Fighting Extinction

Vol 13 2012 Fighting Extinction The red wolf (Canis rufus) was extirpated in the wild and only survived in human care; its threat status was subsequently reduced from Extinct in the Wild thanks to the reintroduction of captive-bred animals. | © John Froschauer/Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium WAZA magazine Vol 13/2012 Contents Editorial The Fall and Rise of the Markus Gusset & Gerald Dick .....1 Scimitar-horned Oryx Tania Gilbert, Tim Woodfine, Przewalski’s Horse William Houston, John Newby Reintroduction to Mongolia: & Khaled Zahzah ......................25 Status and Outlook Chris Walzer, Petra Kaczensky, The Père David’s Deer: Waltraut Zimmermann & Clinging on by a Cloven Hoof Christian Stauffer .......................3 Neil R. Maddison, Jiang Zhigang Founding Member & Maria Boyd ............................29 The Black-footed Ferret: Into the Night The Wyoming Toad: Paul E. Marinari ..........................7 Partnerships for Recovery Val Hornyak .............................. 33 Efforts to Restore the Imprint California Condor to the Wild The Fall and Rise of the Michael Wallace ........................10 Yarqon Bleak Editors: Menachem Goren .....................36 Markus Gusset & Gerald Dick The Arabian Oryx: Saved, yet… WAZA Executive Office Mark R. Stanley Price ............... 15 Controlled Propagation IUCN Conservation Centre of the Socorro Isopod Rue Mauverney 28 The European Bison: Brian K. Lang, CH-1196 Gland A Species Saved Stephen M. Shuster & Switzerland from Extirpation Rebecca Houtman ....................39 phone: +41 22 999 07 90 Wanda Olech ............................19 fax: +41 22 999 07 91 Extirpated in the Wild: Layout and typesetting: Recovering the Red Wolf [email protected] William Waddell & Print: David Rabon Jr ..........................22 Agentura NP, Staré Město, Czech Republic Edition: 700 copies This edition of WAZA Magazine © WAZA 2012 is also available on www.waza.org. Printed on FSC paper. © Janusz Sochacki ISSN: 2074-4528 WAZA magazine Vol 13/2012 1 Markus Gusset1 & Gerald Dick2 Extinct (EX) Editorial Extinct in the Wild (EW) » Critically Endangered (CR) The Red List of Threatened Species, Adequate data compiled by the International Union Endangered (EN) for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), categories Evaluated Vulnerable (VU) Threatened is widely recognised as the most Extinction risk comprehensive, objective global approach for evaluating the conservation status of animal and plant Near Threatened (NT) species. Each species assessed is All assigned to one of eight different cat- Least Concern (LC) species egories (see figure), based on a series of quantitative criteria. Species classified as Vulnerable, Endangered and Data Deficient (DD) Critically Endangered are regarded as threatened; Extinct in the Wild means that these species are known only to Not Evaluated (NE) survive in human care. There were 68 species that under- Fig. 1 went an improvement in conserva- Structure of the IUCN Red List categories. tion status according to a recent © IUCN assessment of the status of the world’s vertebrates on the IUCN Red These figures were subsequently con- ures (Butchart et al. 2006; Oryx 40: List (Hoffmann et al. 2010; Science tested (Balmford et al. 2011; Science 266–278). For mammals, conserva- 330: 1503–1509), all but four due to 332: 1149–1150) and updated (Conde tion breeding and reintroduction conservation measures. For these et al. 2011; Science 332: 1150–1151): were more successful in improv- 64 species, conservation breed- there were 13 instead of 16 species ing conservation status than other ing was implemented as a major or identified for which conservation conservation actions (Hayward 2011; minor conservation action that led to breeding was implemented as a ma- Biodivers. Conserv. 20: 2563–2573) and an improvement during the period jor conservation action. According to contributed to the genuine improve- of change in 16 and three species, Conde et al. (2011), for at least nine of ment in IUCN Red List status of nine respectively. Therefore, according these 13 species, zoos and aquariums species (Hoffmann et al. 2011; Phil. to Hoffmann et al. (2010), 19 of the also provided substantial logistical, Trans. R. Soc. B 366: 2598–2610). 64 species showing genuine improve- technical and/or financial support. ment in IUCN Red List status due to Overall, it seems that conservation According to the above-mentioned conservation measures benefitted breeding in zoos and aquariums has evaluation (Hoffmann et al. 2010, from conservation breeding. played a role in the recovery of one- 2011; Conde et al. 2011), species quarter of those vertebrate species previously classified as Extinct in the whose threat status was reduced Wild that have improved in IUCN according to the IUCN Red List. Red List status thanks to the reintroduction of captive-bred animals Breeding animals in human care include the Przewalski’s horse (Equus followed by reintroducing them back ferus przewalskii), black-footed fer- into the wild was one of the most ret (Mustela nigripes) and California frequently cited conservation actions condor (Gymnogyps californianus). that led to improvements in IUCN Thanks to the same conservation ac- Red List status (Hoffmann et al. 2010). tions, the threat status of the Arabian For birds, conservation breeding and oryx (Oryx leucoryx), European bison reintroduction helped prevent the (Bison bonasus) and red wolf (Canis extinction of six out of 16 species that rufus) was reduced from Extinct in the would probably have gone extinct in Wild already before the time period 1 WAZA Conservation Officer & the absence of conservation meas- considered. International Studbook Coordinator 2 WAZA Executive Director 2 WAZA magazine Vol 13/2012 » There are 33 animal species currently Animal species classified as Extinct in the Wild on the IUCN Red List classified as Extinct in the Wild on (version 2011.2), with an indication of whether the species is actively bred the IUCN Red List (see table). Ex- in human care, is managed in a studbook-based breeding programme amples include the scimitar-horned and is being reintroduced. oryx (Oryx dammah), Père David’s Scientific name Common name Breeding Manage- Reintro- deer (Elaphurus davidianus), Wyo- ment duction Acanthobrama telavivensis Yarqon bleak Yes No Yes ming toad (Anaxyrus baxteri), Yarqon Ameca splendens Butterfly goodeid Yes No No bleak (Acanthobrama telavivensis) Anaxyrus baxteri Wyoming toad Yes Yes Yes and Socorro isopod (Thermospha- Aylacostoma chloroticum (Tropical freshwater snail) Yes No No eroma thermophilum). Thirty-one Aylacostoma guaraniticum (Tropical freshwater snail) Yes No No of these species are actively bred in Aylacostoma stigmaticum (Tropical freshwater snail) Yes No No Corvus hawaiiensis Hawaiian crow Yes No No zoos, aquariums and other animal Cyprinodon alvarezi Potosi pupfish Yes No No propagation facilities, which prevent Cyprinodon longidorsalis La Palma pupfish Yes No No their outright extinction; 17 species Elaphurus davidianus Père David’s deer Yes Yes Yes are managed in a studbook-based Gallirallus owstoni Guam rail Yes Yes Yes breeding programme. Zoological Leptogryllus deceptor Oahu deceptor bush cricket No No No Megupsilon aporus Catarina pupfish Yes No No institutions are uniquely placed to Mitu mitu Alagoas curassow Yes No No contribute to the conservation of spe- Nectophrynoides asperginis Kihansi spray toad Yes Yes No cies that are no longer found in the Nilssonia nigricans Black softshell turtle No No No wild, with reintroduction efforts using Oryx dammah Scimitar-horned oryx Yes Yes Yes Partula dentifera (Polynesian tree snail) Yes Yes No captive-bred animals already being Partula faba (Polynesian tree snail) Yes Yes No implemented for six species classified Partula hebe (Polynesian tree snail) Yes Yes No as Extinct in the Wild. Partula mirabilis (Moorean viviparous tree snail) Yes Yes No Partula mooreana (Moorean viviparous tree snail) Yes Yes No In this edition of the WAZA Magazine, Partula nodosa (Polynesian tree snail) Yes Yes No Partula rosea (Polynesian tree snail) Yes Yes No we have compiled cases where zoos Partula suturalis (Moorean viviparous tree snail) Yes Yes No and aquariums have made unique Partula tohiveana (Moorean viviparous tree snail) Yes Yes No contributions to fighting extinction Partula tristis (Polynesian tree snail) Yes Yes No of those species most urgently in Partula varia (Polynesian tree snail) Yes Yes No need of conservation action; that Skiffia francesae Golden skiffia Yes No No Stenodus leucichthys Beloribitsa Yes No No is, species classified as Extinct in the Thermosphaeroma thermophilum Socorro isopod Yes No Yes Wild on the IUCN Red List. Examples Yssichromis sp. nov. ‘argens’ (Cichlid fish) Yes No No of such interactive ex situ and in situ Zenaida graysoni Socorro dove Yes Yes No population management include the Information compiled from the IUCN Red List, International Species Information System (ISIS), 11 species mentioned in this Edito- IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG), systematic Internet searches rial; they were either reclassified and personal communications recently (Hoffmann et al. 2010, 2011; Conde et al. 2011) or before the time period considered in that evaluation, Aichi Biodiversity Target 12 of the that this edition of the WAZA Maga- or reintroduction efforts driven by United Nations Strategic Plan for zine will substantially strengthen the zoological institutions have been im- Biodiversity 2011–2020 states that “by case for the world zoo and aquarium

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