The conservation con
Reintroducing animals to the wild Of the 5,926 species (mammals, birds, reptiles and others) classified as threatened or endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, only around 120 species are involved in international zoo breeding programs, and from these just 16 species have been reintroduced to the wild... with varying degrees of success. The costs, both financial and to the animals themselves, of captive breeding conservation programmes are astronomically high. For example, when the black footed ferret was reintroduced to the wild under a programme supervised by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the eventual cost was estimated to be around $400,000 per individual survivor! Added to this was the cost in suffering to the animals. Reintroduced ferret populations can experience a mortality rate as high as 90% during the first year of release. And of those reared in indoor cages, up to 91% may die within the first year of release. (*a) In a South American zoo programme, this time involving the golden lion tamarin (a primate), death rates were also high. Of over 100 golden lion tamarins released into the wild, only about 30 survived. While their offspring fared somewhat better, there were other more significant problems for the programme. In 1991 a zoo bred tamarin, awaiting release to the wild, was found to be carrying the lethal arenavirus. This virus was unknown in the locality and could have devastated the wild population of tamarins and other primate species which would have lacked any immunity to it. The virus may have been spread to the zoo tamarins by mice which they were fed on while in captivity. The infected tamarin had been just 3 days away from release when diagnosed... (*b) During the 1980's, Gopher tortoises were released into the wild in California. A virus present in the tortoises resulted in the deaths of an estimated 40,000 wild desert tortoises. (*c) Arabian oryx were bred in captivity and released into the wild at an estimated cost of twenty-five million dollars. Recent information received suggests that the animals are again being poached in the wild, ironically to supply zoos. Preventing the loss of oryx is not easy while there is an international demand for captive animals, and the illegal trade can be highly profitable. Since 1996, more than 40 oryx have been smuggled from Oman, to be sold to private zoos and animal collectors. In 1990 one of London Zoo's oryx was found to have developed BSE. The latest research into this disease indicates that it can be passed on from parent to offspring, which raises the worrying question:- Could reintroduced Oryx have BSE? Arabian oryx have also been found to have TB, which can spread between species. In the 1980's the numbers of oryx in a Saudi Arabian captive breeding programme were drastically reduced because of TB. Conservation - the way forward? Trying to restock the wild is costly, flawed and impractical. Animals must be conserved in the wild, thereby protecting not just single species - as practised by zoos - but whole eco-systems. Vast amounts of money - the global zoo budget is thought to be $500 million dollars - are used to keep and breed animals in captivity. This could be used for conservation in the wild, protecting both the animals and their habitat. Money could be better spent:
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