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Aug

6

2007
 
 

The wheel turns and turns



Captive-bred animals continue to evolve, but not necessarily in a useful direction

hey, good lookingThe California condor Gymnogyps californianus owes its existence to captive breeding programs, and many thousands more vertebrate species will only survive in the future through similarly intensive conservation efforts. However, a study published recently in Molecular Ecology warns that Nature’s own solution to changing conditions — evolution by means of natural selection — could work against those valiant attempts to clutch species back from the edge. Genetic adaptation to captivity can have dire effects when animals are returned to the wild, according to Macquarie University’s Richard Frankham. The relatively easy-living conditions — sufficient food, freedom from disease and so on — can cause populations to gear up for maximum reproductive output. This quantity-not-quality approach perhaps works fine under the watchful eye of qualified vets, but in the big bad world it can be disastrous. Replicating natural conditions is one solution, but the removal of predators is usually pretty helpful to the breeding program. If sufficient attention is given to this problem now, we might be able to find a way around it before the flood of extinct-in-the-wild species hits the zoo gates. Source: Frankham R (2007) Genetic adaptation to captivity in species conservation programs. Molecular Ecology DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2007.03399.x

Image © Ferenc Cegledi

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One Response to “The wheel turns and turns”

  1. Critically endangered? Hah! : Journal Watch Online on August 9th, 2007 6:02 pm

    [...] Related story in Conservation magazine: The Wheel Turns and Turns [...]

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