Captive breeding

Captive Breeding

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Captive breeding

Captive breeding is the process of breeding rare

Rare species

A rare species is an organism which is very uncommon or scarce. This designation may be applied to either a plant or animal taxon, and may be distinct from the term "endangered species" or "threatened species"....
or endangered species

Endangered species

An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters....
in human controlled environments with restricted settings, such as wildlife preserves, zoo

Zoo

A Zoology garden, abbreviated to zoo, is an institution in which living animals are exhibited in captivity. In addition to their status as tourist attractions and recreational facilities, modern zoos may engage in captive breeding programs, conservation study, and educational outreach....
s and other conservation

Conservation biology

Conservation biology is the scientific study of the nature and status of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction....
facilities; sometimes the process is construed to include release of individual organism

Organism

In biology, an organism is any life thing . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimulus , reproduction, growth and developmental biology, and maintenance of homeostasis as a stable whole....
s to the wild, when there is sufficient natural habitat

Habitat

The term habitat has a number of meanings:* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows** Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play...
to support new individuals or when the threat to the species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
in the wild is lessened.

This technique has been used with success for some species for some time, with probably the oldest known such instances of captive breeding being attributed to menageries of European and Asian rulers, a case in point being the Pere David's Deer

Père David's Deer

P?re David's Deer, Elaphurus davidianus, also known as the Milu , is a species of deer known only in captivity. It prefers marshland, and is believed to be native to the subtropics of China....
.

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Encyclopedia

Captive breeding is the process of breeding rare

Rare species

Endangered species

Zoo

Conservation biology

Organism

Habitat

Species

Père David's Deer

Peter Scott

Sir Peter Markham Scott, Order of the Companions of Honour, Order of the British Empire, Distinguished Service Cross , Royal Society, Zoological Society, was a United Kingdom ornithologist, conservationist, Painting, naval officer and sportsman....
and Gerald Durrell

Gerald Durrell

Gerald Malcolm Durrell, OBE was a natural history, zookeeper, conservationist, author, and television presenter. He founded what is now called the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Jersey Zoo on the Channel Islands of Jersey in 1958, but is perhaps best remembered for writing a number of books based on his life as an animal c...
in the 1950s and 1960s, founders of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust is a wildfowl and wetland Conservation movement charitable organization in the United Kingdom. Its patron is Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom....
and Jersey Zoo - who demonstrated success with a wide variety of life forms in the 1970s ranging from birds (e.g. Pink Pigeon

Pink Pigeon

The Pink Pigeon, Columba mayeri, is a species of Columbidae endemic to Mauritius, and now very rare. It was on the brink of extinction in 1991 but its numbers have increased due to the efforts of Gerald Durrell and the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in the 1960s....
), mammals (e.g. Pygmy Hog

Pygmy Hog

Pygmy hog is an endangered species of small wild pig, previously spread across India, Nepal, and Bhutan but now only found in Assam. The current world population is about 150 individuals or fewer....
), reptiles (e.g. Round Island Boa

Round Island boa

The Bolyeriidae are a Family of snakes native to Mauritius and a few islands around it, especially Round Island . In the past they also occurred on the island of Mauritius, but were extirpated there due to human influence and foraging pigs in particular....
) and amphibians (e.g. Poison arrow frogs). Their ideas were independently validated by the success of Operation Oryx (under the auspices of the Fauna and Flora Preservation Society

Fauna and Flora Preservation Society

Fauna and Flora International , was founded in 1903 as the Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire by a group of United Kingdom naturalists and United States statesmen in Africa....
), which captive bred the Arabian Oryx

Arabian Oryx

The Arabian Oryx is a bovid and the smallest member of Oryx genus, native to desert and steppe areas of the Arabian peninsula. An endangered species, the Arabian Oryx was largely extinct in the wild by the early 1970s; reintroduction programs have since been attempted, with mixed success....
in 1962 and reintroduced them back into Arabia. The Przewalski's horse

Przewalski's Horse

Przewalski's Horse is a rare and endangered subspecies of Wild Horse native to the steppes of central Asia. At one time extinct in the wild, it has been reintroduced to its native habitat in Mongolia at the Khustain Nuruu National Park, Takhin Tal Nature Reserve and Khomiin Tal....
has recently been re-introduced to the wild in Mongolia

Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and People's Republic of China to the south, east and west....
, its native habitat.

Such techniques are usually difficult to implement for highly mobile species like some migratory birds (e.g. crane

Crane (bird)

Cranes are large, long-legged and long-necked birds of the order Gruiformes, and family Gruidae. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back....
s) and fishes (e.g. Hilsa

Hilsa

Hilsa is the national fish of Bangladesh, also popular in India's Assamese language-, Bengali language- and Oriya language-speaking regions and in Pakistan Sindh ....
).

If the captive breeding population is too small, inbreeding

Inbreeding

Inbreeding is biological reproduction between close Kinships, whether plant or animal. If practiced repeatedly, it leads to an increase in homozygosity of a population....
may occur due to reduced gene pool

Gene pool

In population genetics, a gene pool is the complete set of unique alleles in a species or population....
, which may lead to the population lacking immunity to diseases and other problems. Over sufficient number of generations, inbred populations can regain "normal" genetic diversity.

The breeding of endangered species is coordinated by cooperative breeding programmes containing international studbooks and coordinators, who evaluate the roles of individual animals and institutions from a global or regional perspective. There are regional programmes for the conservation of endangered species

Endangered species

America: Species Survival Plan
Species Survival Plan

The American Species Survival Plan or SSP program was developed in 1981 by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to help ensure the survival of selected species in zoos and aquariums, most of which are threatened or endangered species in the wild....
SSP (American Zoo and Aquarium Association AZA, Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums
Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums

The Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums - CAZA is a national, non-profit organization that was established in 1975, to be the national voice representative of Canada's zoos and aquariums....
CAZA)
Europe: European Endangered Species Programme
European Endangered Species Programme

The European Endangered Species Programme or EEP is the most intensive type of population management for a species kept in European Association of Zoos and Aquaria zoos....
EEP (European Association of Zoos and Aquaria
European Association of Zoos and Aquaria

The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria is an organisation for the European zoo and aquarium community.EAZA membership is open to all zoos and aquaria across Europe that are willing to comply with EAZA's standards....
EAZA)
Australasia: Australasian Species Management Program ASMP (Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria ARAZPA)
Africa: African Preservation Program APP (African Association of Zoological Gardens and Aquaria PAAZAB)
Japan: Conservation activities of Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums JAZA
South Asia: Conservation activities of South Asian Zoo Association for Regional Cooperation SAZARC
South East Asia: Conservation activities of South East Asian Zoo Association SEAZA

Captive breeding

See also