Title

Minimizing Genetic Adaptation In Captive Breeding Programs: A Review

Keywords

Captivity; Contraception; Cryopreservation; Fragmentation; Genetic adaptation; Reintroduction; Selection

Abstract

Captive breeding for species of conservation concern is the act of bringing rare or endangered animals into captivity with the hope of rearing sustained captive populations for eventual reintroduction into the wild. Within captivity, genetic changes can occur that may reduce a species' ability to persist once a population is reintroduced back into its natural habitat. We sought to determine the efficacy of recommendations made to minimize genetic adaptation to captivity by addressing the following questions: (i) Are these recommendations already being carried out in captive programs? (ii) How practical is each recommendation? and (iii) Which recommendations call for future investigation? We performed an extensive search of the published literature for studies of non-domestic, non-model, captive animals in which the investigators used and reported a strategy that can minimize genetic adaptation to the captive environment. We found different forms of each recommendation already being executed in captive programs to varying degrees. In all, we reviewed 90 articles covering four broad categories of strategies. We conclude that the best approach to minimize genetic adaptation is to reduce the number of generations that a species spends in captivity. If this is not possible, then we suggest attempting to minimize generations first by delaying reproduction and then by cryopreservation of germplasm. Other strategies are effective to varying degrees depending on the species' natural history. A large gap in the current literature is the interactive effects of multiple strategies being implemented simultaneously, future research should focus on this issue. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Publication Date

11-1-2009

Publication Title

Biological Conservation

Volume

142

Issue

11

Number of Pages

2388-2400

Document Type

Review

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2009.05.034

Socpus ID

69249213396 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/69249213396

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