Captive breeding with case studies

1. Ashutosa Pattanayak
05 SAF/16

2. Captive breeding
Captive breeding is the process of breeding animals in controlled
environment within well-defined settings, such as wildlife
reserves, zoos and other commercial and
noncommercial conservation facilities. Sometimes the process includes the
release of individual organisms to the wild, when there is sufficient
natural habitat to support new individuals or when the threat to
the species in the wild is lessened. Captive breeding programs
facilitate biodiversity and may save species from extinction. Release
programs have the potential for diluting genetic diversity and fitness.

3. Captive breeding has been successful in the past.
1. The Pere David's deer was successfully saved through captive breeding
programs after almost being hunted to extinction in China.
2. Captive-breeding is employed by modern conservationists, and has saved a wide
variety of species from extinction, ranging from birds, mammals, reptiles and
amphibians.
3. The Przewalski's horse was also successfully reintroduced in the wild after
being bred in captivity. Native to central Asia.

4. BIRD- PINK PIGEON MAMMAL- PIGMY HOG
MAURITIUS INDIA, NEPAL, BHUTAN
CRITICALLY ENDANGERED ENDANGERED

5. REPTILE- ROUND ISLAND BOA AMPHIBIAN-POISON DART FROG
MAURITIUS CENTRALAMERICAAND SOUTH AMERICA
ENDANGERED THREATENED

6. CAPTIVE BREEDING
The maintenance of species in captivity in zoos, aquaria, and botanic
gardens is sometimes called ex situ conservation. It is the only hope for the
survival of some species where the threat to their existence in the wild is
now extreme. This conservation method, however, serves many other
purposes such as allowing more control over breeding in order to avoid
inbreeding, increased reproductive rate, providing educational and public
awareness programs and providing materials for basic and applied
research.

7. Zoos
1. Captive populations of endangered species in zoos is rapidly improving. There are
roughly 500,000 mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians in captivity in zoos
throughout the world.
2. Only 26 of 274 species of rare mammals in captivity are self-sustaining. Giant
pandas, cheetahs, elephants, penguins, humming birds, killer whales, and vicunas
have been very difficult to breed.
3. Improved management practice to minimize problems caused by inbreeding.
4. Molecular methods are also being used to obtain more definitive information on the
relationships between endangered species and their close relatives.
5. It is estimated that if existing zoos were used exclusively for captive propagation of
threatened species, a maximum of about 900 species of vertebrates could be kept
alive in captivity. But at least 2000 mammals, reptiles and birds would have to be
bred in captivity in the near future in order to escape extinction.

8. Aquaria
Aquaria have been much less
successful than zoos in propagating
threatened species, because there are threats
to large numbers of freshwater species.
The captive breeding specialist group
of IUCN is mounting a major effort to develop
captive breeding programs for endangered
fish species, such as the cichlids of Lake
Victoria, the desert fishes of North America
and Appalachian stream fishes. Some of these
will need to be propagated in aquaria for
many generations in view of the difficulty in
solving the exotic predators and/or acid rain
problems.

9. Marine Mammal Parks
River dolphin.
The Dallas World
Aquarium has filed for a permit
with National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS) to capture and
import four Amazon River
dolphins from South America to
Dallas.
These animals do not do
well in captivity, the Aquarium
has no plans to breed or
reintroduce them, and the species
in the wild is likely to be listed as
endangered in the near future.

10. Butterfly Houses
At present, zoos are not able to
deal with the hundreds of thousands
of insects and other invertebrates
threatened with extinction by habitat
loss. However, some zoos and
independent operations are
developing the technology for captive
propagation of these other kinds of
organisms.
For example, there are now 47
butterfly houses in England, three in
the U.S., and two in Australia. These
operations could attempt captive
propagation of endangered species of
insects (but they have not done so
yet).

11. Botanical Gardens
It is much easier and cheaper to maintain
captive populations of plants than of animals.
They require less care, mating can be arranged
more easily, can be vegetatively propagated and can
be stored easily during their dormant stage.
The world's 1500 botanic gardens contain at
least 35,000 plant species or more than 15% of the
world's flora.
Seeds of many plant species, especially those
with dry, small seeds, can be stored at low
temperatures for long periods. They are usually
maintained at 5% humidity and -20 degree Celsius.
Unfortunately, there are some plant species
that do not survive well in storage, and there are some
plants that can only be propagated vegitatively .

12. Captive Breeding Parks of Indian Wild Animals
Many species have been saved from
extinction by captive breeding in Zoological Parks
of India. Captive breeding program in India is
taken care by Central Zoo Authority of India for
endangered species as per the National Zoo Policy.
Here is the list of Captive Breeding Parks in India
for Snake, Crocodile, Gharial and Vulture.
Snake -Katraj Snake Park, Pune
Katraj Snake Park of Pune is one of the only
park in the country with maximum species of
snakes. This famous conservation park boasting a
vast collection of snakes, reptiles, birds and turtles,
The park also incorporates a rescue center for
injured and orphaned animals.

13. Crocodile -Madras
Crocodile Bank, Chennai
Madras Crocodile Bank
Trust is the first crocodile
breeding centre in Asia,
established for saving three
Indian endangered species of
crocodile in the city of Chennai.
It is the largest breeding center
of crocodiles in India and the
park is also home to largest
reptiles that includes green
anacondas, Komodo dragons,
river terrapin and olive ridley
sea turtles.

14. Lion -Devaliya Safari Park,
Gujarat
Devaliya Lion Safari Park is
situated very close to Gir National
Park and Wildlife Sanctuary of
Gujarat, It is breeding park of Indian
lions. It is one of the most fascinating
and beautiful places of India,organized
by the Gir National Park.

15. Gharial -National Chambal
Sanctuary, Chambal
National Chambal Gharial Wildlife
Sanctuary is one of the riverine sanctuary
in India and solo home of the critically
endangered gharial. Gharial Wildlife
Sanctuary is located on the Chambal river
and also home to Red-crowned roof turtle
and the endangered Ganges river dolphin.

16. Vulture -Ramanagara Vulture
Sanctuary, Karnataka
Ramanagar is popular place and is
the country’s first vulture sanctuary in
Karnataka,located on the Bengaluru-
Mysuru highway at an average elevation
of 747 metres. Ramdevarabetta hill is
home of many critical vulture species like
long-billed vulture, Egyptian vulture and
Indian vultures.

17. Dolphin -Vikramshila Gangetic
Dolphin Sanctuary, Bhagalpur
Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin
Sanctuary is the only protected area for the
endangered Gangetic dolphins in Asia,
located in Bhagalpur District of Bihar. The
Gangetic dolphins are the National Aquatic
Animal of India and sanctuary is a 50 km
stretch of the Ganges river near Sultanganj.

18. Macaque- Arignar Anna
Zoological Park, Chennai
Arignar Anna Zoological Park
or Vandalur Zoo is the park is the
largest zoological garden in India and a
Captive breeding ground for lion-tailed
macaques. The park is the first public
zoo in India and house endangered
species of mammals, birds and reptiles.

19. Advantages
- Endangered animals have a safe place to live and continue breeding to prevent
extinction
- A zoo is a safe place to visit and experience seeing wild animals up close.
- Zoo's give medical care and feed animals who need help, they have no worry or
stress about having to find food or water
- Zoos educate people about the importance of rescuing endangered animals, it
also informs future generations of what they can do to help.
- If it wern't for zoos many animals such as the great panda, would be extinct by
now
- Animals in zoos have a small risk of being harmed compared to animals in the
wild.
- Enclosures have changed from metal bars and cod cement to more natural
barriers and enclosures resembling the animals natural habitat.

20. Disadvantages:
1. Animals live in man made enclosures and dont get to live naturally. They always live
in the same place all year round.
2. Animals get easily stressed from small enclosures or crowding and limited privacy.
3. Animals lack mental stimulation and physical exercise.
4. Zoos have apparently also been known to supply animals to the exotic meat industry.
5. Animals are said to die prematurely or at an earlier age in zoos
6. Some animals are forced to live in climates that do not suit them

21. Challenges
Captive breeding techniques are usually difficult to implement for highly mobile
species such as migratory birds like cranes and fishes like Hilsa.
Conservation biologists define endangered species as one that is likely to become
extinct in the near future and is designated as endangered on the IUCN Red List.
Genetics
A risk of captive breeding includes inbreeding, i.e., mating between two closely
related individuals as a result of a small gene pool. Inbreeding may lead to decreased
disease immunity and phenotypic abnormalities.
Duration of programme (i.e., time from the foundation of the captive population
to the last release event) is an important determinant of reintroduction success.

22. Behavior changes
Captive breeding contribute to behavioral problems in animals because they are
unable to hunt or forage for food leading to starvation, possibly because the young
animals spent the critical learning period in captivity.
Released animals often do not avoid predators and are not able to find ample
shelter for themselves and may die.
Golden lion tamarin mothers often die in the wild before having offspring
because they cannot climb and forage. This leads to continuing population declines
despite reintroduction as the species are unable to produce viable offspring. Training
can improve anti-predator skills, but its effectiveness varies.

23. Loss of habitat
Another challenge with captive breeding is the habitat loss that occurs while they
are in captivity being bred. This may make release of the species nonviable if there is no
habitat left to support larger populations.
Climate change and invasive species are threatening an increasing number of
species with extinction.
A decrease in population size can reduce genetic diversity, which detracts from a
population's ability to adapt in a changing environment.
Assortative mating
A study on mice has found that after captive breeding had been in place for
multiple generations and these mice were "released" to breed with wild mice, that the
captive-born mice bred amongst themselves instead of with the wild mice. This suggests
that captive breeding may affect mating preferences, and has implications for the success
of a reintroduction program.

24. SUCCESSES
The De Wild Cheetah and Wildlife Centre, established in South Africa in 1971, has
a cheetah captive breeding program. Between 1975 and 2005, total of 785 cubs born. The
survival rate of cubs was 71.3% for the first twelve months and 66.2% for older cubs,
validating the fact that cheetahs can be bred successfully (and their endangerment
decreased). It also indicated that failure in other breeding habitats may be due to "poor"
sperm morphology.
SUCCESSES IN INDIA
African rhinos- 9 to 10 in mysore zoo
Chimpanzee- 6 nos
Black swan- 16 nos
SUCCESSES IN ODISHA
Melanistic tiger

25. New technologies
The Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) is a genome region that is
emerging as an exciting research field. Researchers found that genes that code for MHC
affect the ability of certain species, such as Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis which causes
chytridiomychosis in amphibians, to resist certain infections because the MHC has a
mediating effect on the interaction between the body’s immune cells with other body
cells.
Measuring polymorphism at these genes can serve as an indirect measure of a
population's immunological fitness. Captive breeding programs that selectively breed for
disease-resistant genes may facilitate successful reintroductions.
There have also been recent advances in captive breeding programs with the use
of induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPSC) technology, which has been tested on
endangered species. Scientists hope that they can convert stem cells into germ cells in
order to diversify the gene pools of threatened species. Healthy mice have been born with
this technology. iPSC may one day be used to treat captive animals with diseases.