Linking management practices with survival to improve outcomes for a red wolf population
Ex situ breeding programs serve as an important conservation tool for threatened and endangered species. Such programs must strike a balance among the immediate welfare needs of individual animals, growing the population, maintaining genetic diversity, and ensuring a successful release. While several carnivores have been successfully reintroduced into the wild from ex situ populations, little […]
Choice, Control and Computers: Empowering Wildlife in Human Care
The purpose of this perspective paper and technology overview is to encourage collaboration between designers and animal carers in zoological institutions, sanctuaries, research facilities, and in soft-release scenarios for the benefit of all stakeholders, including animals, carers, managers, researchers, and visitors. We discuss the evolution of animal-centered technology (ACT), including more recent animal-centered computing to […]
Comparison of fecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations in hand‐versus parent‐reared whooping cranes (Grus americana)
Endangered whooping cranes (Grus americana) have been produced in captivity for reintroduction programs since the 1980s, using techniques such as artificial insemination, multiple clutching, and captive‐rearing to speed recovery efforts. Chicks are often hand‐reared (HR) by caretakers in crane costumes, socialized into groups and released together, unlike parent‐reared (PR) cranes that are raised individually by […]
Effects of handling and short-term captivity: a multi-behaviour approach using red sea urchins, Mesocentrotus franciscanus
Understanding the effects of captivity-induced stress on wild-caught animals after their release back into the wild is critical for the long-term success of relocation and reintroduction programs. To date, most of the research on captivity stress has focused on vertebrates, with far less attention paid to invertebrates. Here, we examine the effect of short-term captivity […]
Personality in Zoo-Hatched Blanding’s Turtles Affects Behavior and Survival After Reintroduction Into the Wild
Reintroduction programs in which captive-bred or reared animals are released into natural habitats are considered a key approach for conservation; however, success rates have generally been low. Accounting for factors that enable individual animals to have a greater chance of survival can not only improve overall conservation outcomes but can also impact the welfare of […]
Animal Welfare in Conservation Breeding: Applications and Challenges
Animal welfare and conservation breeding have overlapping and compatible goals that are occasionally divergent. Efforts to improve enclosures, provide enriching experiences, and address behavioral and physical needs further the causes of animal welfare in all zoo settings. However, by mitigating stress, increasing behavioral competence, and enhancing reproduction, health, and survival, conservation breeding programs must also […]
The Effect of the Captive Environment on Activity of Captive Cotton-Top Tamarins (Saguinus oedipus)
This study examined captive cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus) behavior across 3 different exhibits: (a) a rainforest (30.5 m in diameter), where tamarins free-ranged with other species; (b) a caged outdoor exhibit (5 m in diameter); and (c) a caged enclosure, with access indoors (6 x 9m) and outdoors (2.5 x 2.5 m). The study observed […]
Directions in reintroduction biology
Reintroductions are attempts to return species to parts of their historical ranges where they were extirpated, and might involve release of either captive-bred or wildcaught individuals. The poor success rate of reintroductions worldwide has led to frequent calls for greater monitoring, and since 1990 there has been an exponential increase in the number of peer […]
Captive breeding and rearing of critically endangered Mauritius fodies Foudia rubra for reintroduction
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.20182.abs In-situ captive rearing of endangered passerines for reintroduction has rarely been used as a conservation tool. Nests of Mauritius fodies threatened with predation by introduced mammalian predators were harvested from the wild, and chicks were reared to independence for release onto an offshore, predator-free island. The daily probability of the survival was higher […]
Behavioral profiles of the captive juvenile whooping crane as an indicator of post-release survival
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.20075.abs Predation by bobcats (Lynx rufus) is the major cause of mortality in captive-reared whooping cranes (Grus americana) released into the wild to establish a nonmigratory flock in Florida. This study investigated whether rearing methods (parent-rearing, hand-rearing, or hand-rearing with exercise) of cranes, and behaviors observed in birds either before or shortly after release […]