The Role of Zoos in Conservation
The role of zoos in conservation
Taking captive breeding techniques into the field
Historical tragedies...
First endangered species conference 1972, published 1975
Full of hope and optimism. Published 1976
Zoos as “Arks”, conservation, research, captive breeding and reintroduction
Work on wild and captive populations
Training to develop international capacity in animal management. On the road to recovery... and historical success stories There is a limit to extent we can manage species in captivity
Too many species not enough room. Species change in captivity.
Aldo Leopold
• Wild Turkeys become increasingly docile with each generation in captivity
• Reduction in the size of Brain and Adrenals, Pituitary and Thyroid glands
• Captive raised birds have very poor survival in wild. What happens to captive populations? • Most captive populations die out • Inbreeding common • Captive populations usually lose genetic variation • Changes start to occur in captive populations within ten generations • Sub-specific mixing • Specific mixing • Selection for docility • Selection for promiscuity • Usually select for large, colourful, well marked animals • Within 100 generations thoroughly domesticated, changes largely irreversible.
Thinking out of the cage
• Greater integration between work in captivity and the wild
• Fluid movement of species between wild and captivity.
“We might abandon the Mauritius kestrel to its all-but-inevitable fate, and utilise the funds to proffer stronger support for any of the hundreds of threatened bird species that are more likely to survive.” Norman Myers, The Sinking Ark, 1979 p.43.
• Eggs harvested from wild nests to encourage double clutching
• Hand-reared young used to establish captive population
• 333 birds reintroduced
• Supported with nest-boxes
• 350-400 birds 2017. *
9 or 10 wild birds in 1990
Predicted extinction by 2001
Bred in captivity
294 birds released
Supported with supplemental feeding and predator control
400 free-living birds 2017.
• All nests monitored
• Failing chicks removed for hand rearing and to establish captive population
• 139 captive reared/bred birds released
• C. 90% first year survival
• Supported post-release with supplemental food and nest boxes
• >750 birds 2019. Approach has been to improve survival and productivity by mitigating limiting factors Understanding limiting factors
• Ultimate causes of population limitation:
• Food • Predators/competitors • Disease • Breeding sites
Causes of population decline and corrective management
PROBLEM SOLUTION
Food shortage Supplementary feeding
Predators and competitors Predator and competitor control
Disease Disease control
Shortage of breeding sites Create breeding sites, nest boxes
Populations of kestrel, pigeon and parakeet 700
600
500
400
300 Number Number of birds 200
100
0 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
Year
Red List Index of species survival
17 target species: 8 underwent improvement in Red List category due to conservation
Young et al. (2014) Biol. Cons. 180: 84-96 Red List Index of species survival
Drove a 67% increase in the value of the Durrell Red List Index between 1988 and 2012
Young et al. (2014) Biol. Cons. 180: 84-96 Red List Index of species survival
Contrasts with a 23% decline in a counterfactual RLI showing projected trends if conservation had been withdrawn in 1988 Young et al. (2014) Biol. Cons. 180: 84-96 Four Stages of Species Restoration
• Know your species
• Understand Limiting Factors
• Population Management (addressing controlling factors) • Intensive Management (critically endangered species) • Monitoring and research. Know your species
• Life history
• Ecology
• Population size
• Distribution. Understand rarity?
• Collect data
• What is limiting survival and productivity?
• Food • Predators and competitors • Disease • Breeding sites
Intensive Care
• Critically endangered species – every individual counts
• Captive breeding, reintroductions and translocations
• Close guarding
Population management
• Supplemental feeding
• Predator control / exclusion
• Disease control
• Improve nest sites
• Habitat protection and restoration. Monitoring and Research
• Survival and productivity
• Distribution and numbers
• Project evaluation Mauritius Kestrel Restoration
1000
900
800
700
600
500 Number
400
300
200
100
0 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 Year
1) __...... Know your species 2) …….______...... Understand causes of decline 3) ______Intensive management 4) …………….______...... Population management 5) …………………………………………………..______Evaluation and population research
Take home messages • No quick fixes
• Possible to restore even very small populations.
• Need for indefinite management for some species
• Free-living populations still under natural selection and fulfil an ecological role
• Need to develop the techniques for applied population management of Critically Endangered species
• Species management can drive habitat restoration
The Asian Songbird Crisis and the IUCN SSC Asian Songbird Trade Specialist Group
Bristol Zoological Society Bird Conservation Symposium 3rd September 2019
Andrew Owen Vice-Chair Conservation Breeding & Reintroduction IUCN SSC Asian Songbird Trade Specialist Group The Greater Sunda region • Home to more than 850 bird species, and globally recognised as a biodiversity hotspot with high levels of endemism
• Illegal and unsustainable trade is pushing many bird species towards extinction, although little is being done to prevent it
• At present, conservation efforts are hampered by a lack of effective regulation, monitoring and enforcement
Songbird-keeping as a pastime is firmly entrenched in local culture and tradition in many regions of Southeast Asia
Cage bird trade in Southeast Asia is having a severe effect on Songbird populations with an ever increasing number of species put at risk and facing global extinction As Indonesia’s birds are wiped out, the demand turns to other countries
• Many Chinese species are appearing in Indonesian markets
• Leafbirds, Shamas and Magpie-Robins are smuggled in their thousands from mainland SE Asia
Illegal Bird Trade is on our doorstep too - Threatened Asian Songbirds are being smuggled into Europe Asian Songbird Crisis Summits Jurong Bird Park, Singapore
September 2015
February 2017
March 2019
Asian Songbird Crisis Summit- Singapore 2015
Identified 5 Key Areas/Themes
• Field Research
• Genetic Research
• Conservation-Breeding and Reintroduction
• Trade and Legislation
• Education and Community Engagement
IUCN SSC Asian Songbird Trade Specialist Group Gained Approval in May 2017
Research: Field surveys to locate Java’s rarest Songbirds
• There is an acute lack of field data on bird species affected by the Asian Songbird Crisis
• This project will assess the distribution and abundance of key songbird species across the mountains of West and Central Java
• We will also survey other taxa such as primates, ground-dwelling mammals, and some frogs
• Information will feed into efforts to protect key species, and to support development of new Protected Areas
Gabby Salazar https://www.gabbysalazar.com 20 mountains will be surveyed over 24 months Surveys have started on some of Java’s Mountains
• Surveys have now been completed on the first mountain in Central Java, and surveys on the suite of mountains in West Java are underway
• At each site, 14 audio recorders are placed for 3 days (recording 24 hours), 20 camera traps for 3 days, and about 10 transects are walked (5-10 km) whilst recording birds both visually and with recorders
• Data on species presence/relative abundance will come from occupancy from audio recorders, encounter rates from camera traps, consolidated species list per site, encounter rates from transects
Gabby Salazar https://www.gabbysalazar.com
Bali Myna & Black-winged Myna Ecology Tom Squires PhD
The aim of this study is to assess the current status and ecology of the reintroduced Bali Myna and its long term viability
Objectives: 1. Assess Bali Myna distribution and population size at Bali Barat National Park
2. Examine key aspects of Bali Myna ecology, including habitat use, feeding preferences, and movement
3. Estimate the long-term viability of the Bali Myna population Project objectives: Fieldwork activities: • Devise robust pre-release, release, and post-release protocols with input and agreement from multiple stakeholders
• Introduce a robust system of monitoring and studying released Bali Mynas in BBNP using standard radio-telemetry tracking to determine the key ecological needs of the species
• Support Indonesian students/ecologists to conduct studies of Bali Myna
• Document history of Bali Myna reintroduction, with help of National Park and its staff locations, dates, numbers released
• Mark-resight surveys (colour-ringing)
Measure vital rates, e.g. survival
Examine movements – range expansion
Behavioural sampling
• Habitat assessment – park-wide
Mark – Resight Colour-ringing
• Initiate marking scheme using colour rings and Indonesian scheme’s aluminium rings
• Mark-resight method to measure survival and movement (possibly range expansion?)
Colour-ringed Grey-backed Myna • Measure behaviour – focal sampling at Baluran National Park
• Potential to extend project to the use of radio-tags, for better look at movement and behaviour
• Radio-tracking trials have taken place at Chester Zoo
• It is hoped that by perfecting these methods in a zoo environment, we can use these techniques to better understand the released population in Bali
IUCN RED LIST – All the categories have rigorous criteria for species to qualify
Extinct Extinct in the wild Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable Near Threatened Low Risk Data Deficient The sub-species question
Orange-headed Thrush – not globally threatened BUT sub-species from Java and Bali Geokichla citrina rubecula almost extinct in the wild Conservation-Breeding Programmes
• Ideally formed from sufficient unrelated founders
• Managed Genetically and Demographically Javan Green Magpie • Requires studbooks compiled from and updated with good quality data
Sumatran Laughingthrush
Population Overview Report for: Garrulax bicolor / Sumatran laughing thrush IUCN: N/A CITES: N/A From: 09 Mar 1999 to: 09 Mar 2019 | Population Subset: All Species360 Members (1141)
Population Data and Data Quality Indicators Individuals Living Individuals Contributing Founders (>=) 44.37.0 = 81 total Living Individuals 55.36.4 = 95 total Living Descendants (from Founders) (>=)29.16.0 = 45 total Living Breeders 19.15.0 = 34 total Living Captive Born 47.32.3 = 82 total Living Wild Born 6.3.0 = 9 total % Marked Hybrid 0% (0 of 0 total) % Ancestry Includes Inconsistent Taxonomy 0% (0 of 0 total) % Pedigree Known 88.31% (Avg - 95 animals) % Pedigree Certain 88.31% (Avg - 95 animals) Living and Historical Individuals % Estimated Birth Dates (> One Month) 5% (5 of 111 total) % Unknown Date of Birth 1% (1 of 111 total) 96% (96 of 100 total - excludes % Individually Identified Sires and Dams Founders) % Individuals with Multiple Sires or Dams 0% (0 of 0 total - excludes Founders) % MULT Parents without Identification 0% (0 of 0 total - excludes Founders) % Animals without Recorded Birth or Capture 16% (18 of 111 total) % Animals Lost to Follow Up 4% (4 of 111 total) Groups Living Animals in Groups 0.0.0 = 0 total Current Founder Groups 0 Disclaimer: These tables and figures are based on institutional data submitted to Species360, not studbook data. Number of Current Groups 0 Copyright, Species360, 2019. All rights reserved. % Pedigree Known 0% (Avg - 0 groups) % Pedigree Certain 0% (Avg - 0 groups) Printed: 09/03/2019 21:14 Page: 1 of 1 Species360 ZIMS version 2.25.5 Best Practice Guidelines
Javan Green Magpie (Cissa thalassina) CR
Sumatran Laughingthrush (Garrulax bicolor) EN Partnership with Cikananga Conservation Breeding Centre
• Capacity building and training
• Teaching husbandry and veterinary techniques
• Intern programme – helping CCBC and helping to develop Keeper-Conservationists of the future At the one end of the spectrum, there are species on the verge of extinction, in urgent need of conservation-breeding programmes to safeguard their survival
Javan Pied Starling Black-winged Myna At the other end of the spectrum, if these issues are not addressed, and solutions are not effectively implemented, the list of threatened species will continue to grow
Conservation Breeding Programmes for some species are not always straightforward
Leafbirds and White-eyes for example are not easy to breed in captivity
But it is essential that detailed husbandry guidelines are developed for these challenging species
Reintroduction Legislation, Law Enforcement and Confiscations
Grosbeak Starling EAZA’s Current Conservation Campaign Raising awareness and funding valuable work
Education and Community Engagement
Vital if there are to be lasting solutions to this very serious conservation issue, which threatens the survival of so many remarkable Species
What we hope for, is an appreciation of birds in the wild, rather than in cages
For the next generation to be bird watchers of the future, rather than bird catchers
Cage bird trade in Southeast Asia is having a severe effect on songbird populations with an ever increasing number of species put at risk and facing global extinction Community and Conservation in the Philippines Nigel Simpson Daphne Kerhoas sourced from Conservation International a biodiversity hotspot & a megadiverse country • Biogeography: Wallace’s Line • The Philippines straddles one of the worlds major biogeographic regions • Wallacean and Sundaic Regions • The real Philippine archipelago lies east of Wallace’s line where up to 70% of species are unique; whereas the flora and fauna for the Palawan Region is very similar to the rest of the Sundaic region. • Endemicity: 70% • Up to 70% of the major species groups in the Philippines are found no where else in the world. • Faunal Regions • The Philippines is naturally composed of several major faunal regions, each separated by deep water channels.
Forest Loss: only 3-6% remains
Unless halted and reversed: • mass extinction • more human suffering The Philippines
NW Panay
North Negros
South Negros • Home to some of the last remaining populations of threatened species: – Negros bleeding-heart dove – Visayan warty pig – Visayan tarictic hornbill – Walden’s hornbill – Visayan spotted deer
• Locally all in danger of extirpation from loss of habitat and hunting
Threats • Habitat loss • Species extinction • Lack of knowledge • Disturbance through hunting
4 Aims
1. Field research 2. Captive breeding 3. Community conservation 4. Lobbying
Field Research
Methods
Field Research South Negros Field Research South Negros Field Research North Negros Field Research North West Panay
Sibaliw station Field Research North West Panay Field Research North West Panay
Dark green above 900m Light green below 900m Field Research North West Panay Captive breeding Breeding centre 1: Talarak Captive breeding Breeding centre 2: Centrop Captive breeding Breeding centre 2: Centrop Community conservation Alternative livelihoods Community conservation North West Panay Lobbying Conservation Action Planning Conclusions Challenges Conclusions Opportunities Salamat! Bristol Zoological Society Bird Conservation Symposium 3 September 2019 How much can recent research help shape plans to reintroduce Vietnam Pheasant to the wild?
Nigel Collar Vietnam Pheasant Vietnam Pheasant Vietnam Pheasant Vietnam Pheasant
Edwards’s Pheasant Vietnamese Pheasant Lophura edwardsi Lophura hatinhensis Vietnam Pheasant
Edwards’s Pheasant Vietnamese Pheasant Lophura edwardsi Lophura hatinhensis Vietnam Pheasant Vietnam Pheasant Vietnam Pheasant Vietnam Pheasant
• 28 birds (only 6‒8 females) were caught and exported to France by BirdLife founder Jean Delacour 1924‒1930 (none since) • War in France caused genetic bottleneck 1942‒1947 such that all captive birds are probably descended from 1 female • EAZA studbook created 1994, made international in 2012 • Some hybridisation with other Lophura, but diversity stable • c.1,500 birds 15 years ago, most inaccessible in private hands • WPA members hold 470, some available under “ECBG” • 2006: only 80 males, 54 females and 10 unsexed birds in a total of 39 European zoos (2018: respectively 75, 55, 7 in 45) • Some 35 generations in captivity by 2012 Galliform reintroductions—expert advice:
2013 2009 Galliform reintroductions—WPA requires:
1. a genuine need 2. clear aims, objectives and success indicators set within a realistic time-frame 3. well-researched evidence from previous endeavours 4. an appropriate release site 5. suitable release stock 6. no impact on donor stock or the ecology of the release site 7. legal, political and local support boosted by awareness programmes and preferably with socio-economic benefits 8. a comprehensive budget with sufficient resources 9. the oversight of a multidisciplinary team Galliform reintroductions—what is new?
• WPA and IUCN guidelines are very weak on EW cases, so: • Searches on Google Scholar & Web of Science from 1990 • Use of keyword ‘reintroduction’ coupled with ‘galliform’, ‘grouse’, ‘pheasant’, ‘partridge’, ‘junglefowl’, ‘quail’, ‘turkey’, ‘curassow’, ‘guan’, ‘megapode’ and others • 224 publications found that were not listed in WPA (2009), the great majority from or after 2009 • All this material scanned for 1. evidence on survival rates of captive-bred releasees 2. new techniques producing improvements in parameters relating to galliform reintroductions and population supplementations Galliform reintroductions—the evidence
• It took the release of 17,000 cb Common Pheasants Phasianus colchicus over 12 years (1968‒1980) to get established in Texas • 10,000 cb Red Junglefowl Gallus gallus were released over 11 years (1961‒1971) into the SE USA, but no descendants survive • 200,000 cb Wild Turkeys Meleagris gallopavo were released over 50 years (1930‒1980) in Pennsylvania with no evidence of success • Cb Grey Partridges Perdix perdix in Czech Republic failed to survive past the nesting season and none fledged a brood • Research in Spain into chick adoption by wild and cb Greys with their own broods was abandoned because cb pairs failed to breed • Wild vs cb female Common Pheasants in Idaho were 10 times more likely to survive to breed and 8 times more productive
Survival of translocated vs pen-reared wild pheasants, Idaho
Musil & Connelly (2009) Wildl. Biol. 15: 80-88 Galliform reintroductions—the messages
• Captive environments relax selective pressures on key traits including fecundity, immune-genetics, digestive morphology, temperament, and intrinsic and learnt behaviours including anti-predator responses • Multiple studies confirm weakened anti-predator responses (reduced vigilance, habitat naivety, poor predator recognition) are mainly to blame for reintroduction failures • Stress compromises fitness (e.g. suddenly having to forage for one’s food, but even just lack of behavioural stimulus) • Survival rates decline with number of generations in captivity as a consequence of continuing genetic adaptation
Negative effects of number of generations
Managing maladaptation, 1 Managing maladaptation, 1 Environmental enrichment
Reading et al. (2013) Zoo Biology 32: 332-341 Weight (left) and tarsus thickness (right) in pheasants reared with (white) & without (black) access to perches
Whiteside et al. (2015) R. Soc. open sci. 3: 160008 Aggression / hour in pheasants reared with & without access to perches
R. Soc. open sci. 3:
Whiteside et al. (2015) R. Soc. open sci. 3: 160008 % releasees roosting on elevated perches after access (white) and no access (black) to perches before release
Whiteside et al. (2015) R. Soc. open sci. 3: 160008 Managing maladaptation, 2 Soft releases
• Longer acclimatisation time at release site correlated with lower levels of corticosterone (stress hormone) and partly enhanced post-release survival in Grey Partridges • Length of pre-release acclimatisation within the soft-release enclosure positively influenced post-release survival of Red- billed Curassows Crax blumenbachii, with at least 47 days recommended • 9 Cabot’s Tragopans Tragopan caboti kept >50 days in a soft- release enclosure in typical montane habitat (a) survived far better than 11 birds held there only 3 days (86% vs 20% after 50 days), and (b) selected more typical habitats Liu et al. (2016) Avian Res. 7, 19. Managing maladaptation, 3 Parent rearing
• Cb Red-legged Partridges Alectoris rufa in a 4,000 m2 pen with good cover mated freely to produce 42 offspring, which were released into a 7.5 km2 protected area with 36 cb birds. After 6 months former 22.6% re-sighted, latter 0 (Italian study) • Parent-reared Red-legged Partridges outperformed cb birds in terms of survival and behaviour, and came moderately close to figures achieved by wild birds (Spanish study) • Western Capercaillies Tetrao urogallus reared by their captive mother and released next to her cage survived better (males 549 vs 253 days, females 293 vs 56 days) than cb chicks released in the absence of their mother (Polish study) Survival & breeding success of naturally vs artificially reared Redlegs
Santilli et al. (2012) Avian Biol. Res. 5(3): 147-153. Survival of parent-reared and intensively reared Redlegs
Perez et al. (2015) Poultry Science 94: 2330-2338 Site fidelity in mother-reared (pale grey) and cb (dark grey) Capercaillie
Proximity to parent reduces risk of predation owing to naïve wandering (“maladaptive risk-taking behaviour”)
61: 299-302
Merta et al. (2015) Eur. J. Wildl. Res. 61: 299-302
Managing maladaptation, 4 Dietary enrichment Managing maladaptation, 4 Dietary enrichment Managing maladaptation, 5 Anti-predator training Managing maladaptation, 5 Anti-predator training
Red-legged Partridges trained by caged birds calling and reacting to model aerial predators survived six times longer than untrained birds (105.2 vs 17.8 days)
Gaudioso et al. (2011) Poultry Sci. 90: 1900-1908 Managing maladaptation, 5 Anti-predator training
Red-legged Partridges trained by caged birds calling and reacting to model aerial predators survived six times longer than untrained birds (105.2 vs 17.8 days)
Gaudioso et al. (2011) Poultry Sci. 90: 1900-1908 Managing maladaptation, 5 Anti-predator training
Griffin et al. (2000) Conserv. Biol. 14: 1317-1326 Managing maladaptation, 6 Anti-predation release stratagems
• Use night cameras to assess concentration of predators at soft-release stations, catch and relocate major threat animals • Accept some predators at release stations so releasees can learn about them
Keiter & Ruzicka (2017) Oryx DOI • Use several release stations rather than one (survival of Red- legged Partridges from several vs one = 37% vs 8%) • Keep some birds back in release stations to lure releasees back to safe shelter and food in first days after liberation
Managing maladaptation, 7 Numbers, times and timing for release
• Reviews indicate that anything below 100 releasees risks failure from genetic attenuation, stochastic events (e.g. adverse weather) & social/sexual discontinuity (Allee effects) • In multi-generational captive populations, responses to training for maladaptive traits are weaker, so an extra 30‒50% releasees are needed (this allows for only a few generations in captivity, so Vietnam Pheasant potentially might need 100+% extra animals!) • Releases to be conducted in batches at the most favourable season, but guidance on numbers & intervals unavailable Managing maladaptation, 8 Choice and treatment of birds
• Use cameras to monitor behaviour in pre-release pens so as to minimise risks from aggressive individuals • Grey Partridge survival declines with both temerity and timidity • Maintain social groups, since coveys reduce stress levels • Release of immature birds with their parents probably optimal for their survival and adaptation, since (in chickens) learning capacity greatly diminishes at six months of age • 1:1 sex ratio default, but use of excess males may be beneficial • Releasees to consist of highest-quality individuals but donor (reserve) population must not lose any diversity Vietnam Pheasant reintroduction
• In any reintroduction, releasees have got to be ‘match-fit’ (releasing unfit animals is a reputational risk relating both to conservation and to welfare) • In any reintroduction, releasers have got to be ‘match-fit’ (releasing fit animals into unfit places or using discredited protocols is also a double reputational risk) • In the reintroduction of a species that is extinct in the wild, the greatest preparedness is needed, with no compromise on standards at any stage in the process • Need to compile and make best use of information about Lophura biology and management from all sources Tian et al. (2018) Avian Res. 9, 32. Vietnam Pheasant reintroduction
• Build breeding pens in natural habitat next to release site, where several generations can be bred freely, increasing in wildness • Build several release stations to reduce predation risk, relocate predators, and provide food and shelter in first days • Train releasees to recognise and respond to aerial and terrestrial predators, using methods that balance effectiveness with safety • Put release stations in the release environment, with tall ‘roofs’ • Acclimatise releasees for at least 50 days • Provide food to mimic what is naturally available • Preserve natural groupings including parents with offspring • Release at least 150 birds, within at least 2 years
Vietnam Pheasant reintroduction
A species and many reputations are at stake Vital to take the best advice and follow best practice Assemble that multidisciplinary team Prepare a much more detailed action plan Reconsider the time-frame Reconsider the budget Reconsider the site(s) for release Reconsider the strategies for release Start nothing until everything is decided
Thank you
…and to WPA, Jo Gregson, Pham Tuan Anh and many unsuspecting photographers And thank you Jean Delacour
without whom there would be no Vietnam Pheasant
and no BirdLife International