Why Should We Save the Wild Relatives of Domesticated Animals?

Why should we save the wild relatives of domesticated animals?

K ENT H. REDFORD and N IGEL D UDLEY

In his opus on the pheasants of the world, published in the domestic animals? Unlike the case for crops, here the atten- early s, the zoologist William Beebe wrote that his obser- tion has focused almost exclusively on domestic breeds: vations on wild red jungle fowl, the progenitor of domestic Florida Cracker cattle, Ossabaw Island pigs, Black Welsh chickens, in the jungles of Asia, suggested ‘an infusion of Mountain sheep, La Fleche chickens, and many others. the blood of native village birds’ into the genome of these Committees report, NGOs fundraise, herders are studied wild relatives (Beebe, –,inLawler,). Roll forward and incentivized, and global treaties create enabling condi- almost a century and in , Lawler reported in his wonder- tions. All for breeds of already domesticated animals, which ful book on the history of chickens that most if not all red jun- are in real danger of disappearing, but not for the wild rela- gle fowl have incorporated genes from domestic chickens tives themselves. (Lawler, ). Yet the IUCN Red List categorizes the red jun- The global community appears to be largely blind to gle fowl, Gallus gallus as being of Least Concern because of its the plight of vitally important species such as banteng, large range and sizeable population (IUCN, ). guar, wild yak, guanaco, wild ass, Mexican subspecies All domesticated animals originated from wild ancestors. of wild turkeys, wild pigs and wild Bactrian camels. Many of these wild ancestors—such as the wild ass, the ances- Furthermore, species vital in laboratory experiments are tor of the donkey—are in danger of extinction. Some are al- also disappearing, such as the axolotl (Vance, ), categor- ready extinct, as with the wild relative of the dromedaries, ized by IUCN as Critically Endangered in the wild. gone , years ago. Others are in danger of being hollowed To our knowledge there has been no systematic investiga- out genetically, as with chickens. The danger of extinction tion of the distribution and status of wild relatives of domes- through genetic swamping from domestic breeds is poorly ticated animals. A short  article suggested that the documented but appears to be occurring with wild yaks, conservation status of these species was considerably worse Bactrian camels, jungle fowl, and perhaps other species. than that of most other mammals and birds (McGowan, This should not be a surprise as modern genomic studies ), but this assessment was based on the IUCN Red List, have concluded that the domestication process involved which does not consider the genetic integrity of a species. As thousands of years of interbreeding between domestic stock this may be a major threat for some livestock relatives their and their wild relatives—partially to avoid the need for her- conservation status may be even worse than hitherto assumed. ders to maintain males, partially because of poor husbandry, In  FAO’s Commission on Genetic Resources for and partially to continue to maintain desirable traits common Food and Agriculture issued a report on the state of the in the wild species (Almathen et al., ). world’s animal genetic resources (Scherf & Pilling, ). The global community has long recognized the impor- Wild relatives receive next to no attention but the report’s tance of conserving the wild relatives of domesticated plants. logic for domestic breeds is equally compelling for wild re- International organizations conserve crop germplasm, pro- latives: ‘Livestock production systems face many challenges. grammes work with traditional crop breeders to conserve The precise demands that will be placed on the livestock of landraces and traditional cropping practices, protected the future are difficult to predict. However, coping with cli- areas have been established to conserve crop wild relatives, mate change, new disease challenges, restrictions on the and international treaties and agreements help achieve all of availability of natural resources and changing market de- these activities, particularly under the auspices of the Food mands will require a diverse range of AnGR [animal genetic and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the UN. resources for food and agriculture]’. So if there are compelling reasons for saving the wild re- In  the Committee on World Food Security endorsed latives of domestic plants, what about the wild relatives of (ILRI, ) recommendations on roles for livestock in sustainable agricultural development for food security and nutrition (HLPE, ). Yet the focus was on domestic breeds. KENT H. REDFORD Archipelago Consulting, 198 Danforth Street, Portland, Maine The international community is starting to take notice, 04102, USA, Department of Environmental Studies, University of New England, however. There is reference made to wild relatives in Aichi Biddeford, Maine, USA, and Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith  University, Queensland, Australia. E-mail [email protected] Biodiversity Target of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, ): ‘By , the genetic diversity of cul- NIGEL DUDLEY Equilibrium, Bristol, UK, and School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia tivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and of

Oryx, 2018, 52(3), 397–398 © 2018 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605318000601 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.40.40, on 27 Sep 2021 at 05:46:17, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605318000601 398 Kent H. Redford & Nigel Dudley

wild relatives, including other socio-economically as well as approaches, along with policy recommendations to the agri- culturally valuable species, is maintained, and strategies cultural and conservation communities. With this informa- have been developed and implemented for minimizing gen- tion, there will be a realistic chance of addressing this critical etic erosion and safeguarding their genetic diversity’. The but so far undervalued ecosystem service. same reference is found in the Sustainable Development Goals (UN, ): ‘Goal . End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable References agriculture.... By  maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated ani- ALMATHEN, F., CHARRUAU, P., MOHANDESAN, E., MWACHARO, J.M., mals and their related wild species...’ (our emphasis). OROZCO-TERWENGEL, P., PITT, D. et al. () Ancient and Many but not all of the policies aimed at crop wild rela- modern DNA reveal dynamics of domestication and cross- tives could be adapted for what could collectively become continental dispersal of the dromedary. Proceedings of the National known as livestock wild relatives. For example, FAO has Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, , –. – laid out a framework for integrating genetic diversity into BEEBE,W.( ) A Monograph of the Pheasants. Wiherby, London, UK. national climate change adaptation planning (FAO, ) BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL () Gallus gallus.InThe IUCN Red List and this could serve for animals as well as plants. The of Threatened Species. Http://www.iucnredlist.org/details// model is clearly present in numerous recent pieces setting . [accessed  February ]. global conservation priorities for crop wild relatives (e.g. CASTAÑEDA-ÁLVAREZ, N.P., KHOURY, C.K., ACHICANOY, H.A.,  Castañeda-Álvarez et al., ). These treatments include BERNAU, V., DEMPEWOLF, H., EASTWOOD, R.J. et al. ( ) Global conservation priorities for crop wild relatives. Nature Plants, , doi. consideration of how climate change will affect their org/./NPLANTS... conservation. CBD () Convention on Biological Diversity. Https://www.cbd.int/ However, whereas conservation strategies for crop wild [accessed  April ]. relatives can rely on a mixture of gene banks and the FAO (FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION)() Voluntary maintenance of live plants in protected areas or similar, Guidelines to Support the Integration of Genetic Diversity into for livestock the emphasis will necessarily be on maintaining National Climate Change Adaptation Planning. Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture healthy breeding populations, either captive or, preferably, Organization of The United Nations Rome, Italy. in the wild. Protected areas can play a critical role HLPE (HIGH LEVEL PANEL OF EXPERTS)() Sustainable (Rosenthal, ), as is the case for crop wild relatives. agricultural development for food security and nutrition: what roles The need to prevent domestic crossbreeding may require ei- for livestock? A report by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food ther different management within protected areas or per- Security and Nutrition of the Committee on World Food Security, Rome, Italy. haps maintenance of captive breeding stock. Experience ILRI (INTERNATINAL LIVESTOCK RESEARCH INSTITUTE)() with reintroduction of Przewalski’s horse into the wild, Livestock for food security and nutrition—Committee on World clawed back from a global population of just  individuals, Food Security policy recommendations. Https://news.ilri.org// shows that conservation strategies work (Xia et al., ). //livestock-for-food-security-and-nutrition-committee-on-  So what should be done? We have identified a serious world-food-security-policy-recommendations [accessed February ]. omission in conservation practice and global food security LAWLER,A.() Why did the chicken cross the world? Atria strategies. A focused programme of work is needed to fill Paperbacks, New York, USA. current knowledge gaps and propose effective responses. MCGOWAN, P.J.K. () Conservation status of wild relatives of This should start with an analysis of the conservation status animals used for food. Animal Genetic Resources, , –.  (demographic, ecological and genetic) of key wild relatives ROSENTHAL, J.S. ( ) A review of the role of protected areas in conserving global domestic animal diversity. Animal Genetic of domesticated animals. Much of this information exists Resources, , –. within the conservation community but has not been SCHERF, B.D. & PILLING, D. (eds) () The Second Report on the viewed through this particular lens. The assessments need State of the World’s Animal Genetic Resources for Food and to consider the extent to which current protected areas are Agriculture. Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and adequately conserving the species, and whether manage- Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of The United ment policies address both survival and risks of genetic Nations, Rome, Italy. Http://www.fao.org/publications/sowangr [accessed  April ]. swamping from domesticated breeds. Analysis of crop STOLTON, S., BOUCHER, T., DUDLEY, N., HOEKSTRA, J., MAXTED,N. wild relatives found that they were disproportionately ab- &KELL,S.() Ecoregions with crop wild relatives are less well sent from global protected area systems (Stolton et al., protected. Biodiversity, , –. ). Furthermore, an analysis of existing policy instru- UN () Sustainable Development Goals. Htttps://sustainable   ments is needed to determine if more explicit livestock development.un.org [accessed April ]. VANCE,E.() The axolotl paradox. Nature, , –. wild relative policies are required. Together, such work XIA,C.,CAO,J.,ZHANG,H.,GAO,X.,YANG,W.&BLANK,D.() will provide an overview of status, conservation options Reintroduction of Przewalski’shorse(Equus ferus przewalski)inXinjiang, and gaps in both protected areas and their management China: the status and experience. Biological Conservation, , –.