Results of 20 years Bukhara deer restoration.

DSG Newsletter 33: 43-48. ISSN 2312-4644.

Einleitung:

The Bukhara deer was previously considered as one of the vulnerable red deer subspecies of Cervus elaphus bactrianus. Due to a nomenclature change (IUCN Red List revision) it is now considered to be one of the three subspecies of Cervus hanglu, i.e. C.h.bactrianus. From 2000 to 2002 it had been under a real threat of extinction. It numbered no more than 350 animals in total in all 10 populations throughout its range in Central Asia, and was completely extinct in the most important part of its historical area. In accordance with the MOU and Action Plan on Bukhara deer conservation and restoration (CMS), signed in 2002, and in the frame of WWF projects since 1999, a set of important activities ensured population growth in natural habitats, natural habitat restoration and reintroduction in suitable sites within the historical area.

The implemented activities resulted in significant growth of all populations, which allows the species to be considered as Least Concern.

pereladova-biblio

Le Lynx a-t-il encore sa place dans les Vosges ?

42 Seiten. Gutachten für den Verein SOS Faucon pèlerin. 42 Seiten.

Volltext (PDF)

Einleitung:

30 ans après le premier lâcher de lynx dans le Massif vosgien, le statut de la population réintroduite reste incertain. En effet, les derniers résultats émis par le réseau lynx (Bulletin 18) indique que les effectifs sont en diminution et qu'il resterait très peu d'individus.

Cette présente étude a été réalisée au moment où un projet de réintroduction de lynx est en préparation dans le Pfälzerwald, forêt qui n'est autre que le prolongement du Massif des Vosges du Nord, en Rhénanie-Palatinat. Cette nouvelle population de lynx pourrait alors entrer en contact avec la population des Vosges et ainsi renforcer les effectifs et apporter par la même occasion un peu de diversité génétique. Ce projet de réintroduction intervient cependant au moment où l'on constate que la population des Vosges est en régression, on a donc des raisons de se demander si une nouvelle tentative de réintroduction ne conduira pas au même résultat (?)

L'objectif principal de ce document est de répondre à la question suivante: le lynx a-t-il aujourd'hui encore sa place dans le Massif des Vosges ?

scheid-biblio

Wiederansiedlung der Moorente am Steinhuder Meer - ein Rückblick auf 8 Jahre Auswilderung.

WildTierZeit 01/2022: 4-8.

Es wird ein Überblick über die Auswilderung von 798 Moorenten am Steinhuder Meer im Zeitraum 2011-2019 gegeben. Die Auswilderungsmethoden werden dargestellt und diemit den verschiedenen Methoden gemachten Erfahrungen werden diskutiert.

brandes-biblio

Amphibians and conservation breeding programmes: do all threatened amphibians belong on the ark?

Biodivers. Conserv. (2015). DOI 10.1007/s10531-015-0966-9

Abstract:

Amphibians are facing an extinction crisis, and conservation breeding programmes are a tool used to prevent imminent species extinctions. Compared to mammals and birds, amphibians are considered ideal candidates for these programmes due to their small body size and low space requirements, high fecundity, applicability of reproductive technologies, short generation time, lack of parental care, hard wired behaviour, low maintenance requirements, relative cost effectiveness of such programmes, the success of several amphibian conservation breeding programmes and because captive husbandry capacity exists. Superficially, these reasons appear sound and conservation breeding has improved the conservation status of several amphibian species, however it is impossible to make generalisations about the biology or geo-political context of an entire class. Many threatened amphibian species fail to meet criteria that are commonly cited as reasons why amphibians are suitable for conservation breeding programmes. There are also limitations associated with maintaining populations of amphibians in the zoo and private sectors, and these could potentially undermine the success of conservation breeding programmes and reintroductions. We recommend that species that have been assessed as high priorities for ex situ conservation action are subsequently individually reassessed to determine their suitability for inclusion in conservation breeding programmes. The limitations and risks of maintaining ex situ populations of amphibians need to be considered from the outset and, where possible, mitigated. This should improve programme success rates and ensure that the limited funds dedicated to ex situ amphibian conservation are allocated to projects which have the greatest chance of success.

Quote:

The moor frog (Rana arvalis), for example, exhibits a high degree of local adaptation to varying pH levels in breeding ponds across its large range (Rasanen et al. 2003a). The cost of mismatched adaptive traits and environmental pH is high (Andrén et al. 1989), therefore any conservation breeding initiative for this species would need to ensure that source and recipient habitats have similar pH values, or exploit the rapid evolutionary rate of this trait (Andrén et al. 1989; Rasanen et al. 2003a, b; Merila et al. 2004) to allow captive populations to track changes in their eventual release sites.

tapley-biblio

Conservation strategy and action plan for Cuvier’s gazelle (Gazella cuvieri) in North Africa 2017-2026.

IUCN Gland, Switzerland and Malaga, Spain: x + 42 pp. ISBN: 978-2-8317-1905-4.

Summary:

Cuvier’s gazelle (Gazella cuvieri) is a species endemic to North Africa, with its distribution being limited to Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The species is listed on CITES Appendix I and CMS Appendix I, within the framework of which the CMS Sahelo-Saharan Antelopes Action Plan was developed. Since it was created, this strategy has aimed to follow the abovementioned regional Action Plan and to become a tool for its implementation in order to protect this gazelle.

Cuvier’s gazelle is currently globally threatened and is classified as Vulnerable in IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species, mainly due to its small population size. The major threats facing this species are poaching and habitat degradation. Faced with this situation and in order to counter this trend, a strategy and an action plan for this species’ conservation in North Africa were developed with the extensive collaboration of stakeholders, in particular: the national authorities in charge of wildlife conservation in three countries (in Morocco, the High Commission for Water, Forests and the Fight against Desertification; in Algeria, the Directorate-General of Forests of Algeria; and in Tunisia, the Directorate-General of Forests and the Ministry of Local Affairs and the Environment), the IUCN Antelope Specialist Group, national experts and NGO members. Thus, around 30 experts, managers and technicians in the field of conservation contributed to this work.

With this in mind, the aim of this strategy is to ensure that by 2050 there are viable, connected populations of Cuvier’s gazelle, occupying natural habitats in an area close to its historic range. In order to achieve this goal, drawn up by the main stakeholders in the three North African countries involved, seven intervention strategies were identified: (i) the protection and recovery of populations, (ii) the protection and management of the habitat, (iii) awareness raising and valorisation, (iv) research and monitoring, (v) international cooperation, (vi) capacity building and (vii) captive breeding and management. Each State then adapted these strategies and defined a purpose for its territory, supported by short-, medium- and long-term activities.

The success of this strategy is closely linked to the work by several stakeholders at different levels where each one must act in collaboration with various institutions in order to accomplish these goals effectively.

iucn-biblio

Reintroducing Cuvier’s gazelle. Better than expected from captive-bred founders.

Global Ecology and Conservation 23, e01094, ISSN 2351-9894, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01094.

Volltext (PDF)

Abstract:

The use of captive-bred animals as founder stock for reintroduction is sometimes discouraged due to their low genetic diversity and even accumulation of deleterious alleles. In October 2016, 43 Cuvier’s gazelles (12 males and 31 females), managed under a European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) and housed in captivity, formed the base of a reintroduction project in Tunisia. The project approach used soft-release techniques. Upon arrival, animals were released in acclimatisation pens, so they could adjust to the new conditions gradually before true release. This study reports on the three-year period gazelles were in the acclimatisation pens before release into the wild. To assess the suitability of captive-bred Cuvier’s gazelles as founder stock for reintroduction, the demographic parameters of the reintroduced population were studied for three reproductive seasons in Tunisia (2017–2019). The demographic parameters of the reintroduced population were also compared to those from the source captive population as a control during the first breeding season. If the animals used as founders were unsuited, a decrease in demographic parameters could be expected over time in the reintroduced population, as well as lower demographic variables compared to the source population. Contrary to expectations, during the three-year study period, all demographic variables increased in the population reintroduced in Tunisia, except juvenile mortality, which decreased. Moreover, none of the demographic values of the gazelles in Tunisia were significantly different from the source population. We hypothesize that in the extremely bottlenecked captive Cuvier’s gazelle population used as founder stock, genetic diversity was still high enough to surmount the presumably deleterious effects of inbreeding. This is probably due to very high heritability (h2), a parameter providing information on the quantitative genetic variation associated with multi-locus quantitative traits previously found in this population. Although reintroduction programs have traditionally been undertaken purely as management exercises, ours was designed to meet a research objective as well. We wanted to find out the adaptive variation in sex ratio in offspring of female Cuvier’s gazelles using the size of the enclosure as a proxy reflecting their body condition. As found in captivity using consanguinity level as a proxy of body condition, in the reintroduced population, mothers in large enclosures produced more daughters while those in the small ones produced more sons, which supports adaptive manipulation of the birth sex ratio favoured by natural selection in reintroduced Cuvier’s gazelles.

moreno-biblio

Evaluation of habitat use of a semi-captive population of Cuvier’s gazelles Gazella cuvieri following release in Boukornine National Park, Tunisia.

Acta Theriologica 50(3):405-415. DOI:10.1007/BF03192635.

Abstract:

Thirteen Cuvier’s gazelles were relocated to a 6-ha acclimatization enclosure in Boukornine National Park (Boukornine NP) in Tunisia, where they are part of a reintroduction project. To determine the degree of adaptation and habitat use under the new conditions, the acclimatization enclosure was divided into 6 sections according to topography, plant cover and plant species in the area. Signs of gazelle activity were coded as feeding site, paths, passages, feces and resting places. Sampling was done in spring, summer and autumn from September 2000 to July 2001. Multivariate analysis using PATN analysis and Χ2 distribution tests were used to analyze the data. Multivariate analysis yielded 5 groups of biotopes according to the above variables. The Χ2 distribution test showed the significant effect of each variable on the presence of signs of gazelles. Cuvier’s gazelles prefer areas with low and west to north facing slopes and scant plant cover; animals are attracted to the proximity of the fence as the limit of their territory and even though the presence of humans does not represent a disturbance, gazelles select areas far (> 50 m) from the supplementary feeding and water supply for their activities.

abaigar-biblio

The Swedish population of Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus – supplemented or re-introduced?

Ornis Svecia 20: 202-206.

Abstract:

We have investigated historical records of observations of Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus of the original Fennoscandian population in the area in Sweden where captive-reared goslings of the same species were released during 1981–1999. The release project has ear-lier been regarded as a re-introduction project. The data in this review include reports from many sources and we can  present  earlier  unpublished  observations  from  the area. The large number of observations of birds from the Fennoscandian population proves that the release of gos-lings in the actual area was a supplementation of a small but extant population and not a re-introduction.

andersson-biblio

Breeding success, dispersal, and long-term changes in a population of Eagle Owls Bubo bubo in southeastern Sweden 1952–1996.

Ornis Svecica 7(2): 49-60.

Abstract:

In 1950 when the Eagle Owl became legally protected in Sweden, the species was nearly extinct in most parts of the country and survived only with a small population in the southeastern part of the country, along the Baltic Sea coast. This population has been studied in 1952–1996. Recoveries of birds ringed in the study area demonstrated that dispersal was limited; post-fledging dispersal was on average 56.8 km in the first year of life. In birds older than one year the mean distance from the hatching site to the site of recovery was 47.7 km. The mean brood size in successful nests was 1.47 young. However, the mean reproductive success calculated for all occupied territories was only 0.68 young per pair and year. Among all pairs, 43.7% bred successfully and 24.7% failed. Thus, each year 31.6% of the pairs stayed in the territory without breeding. For an extended part of this long term study, reproduction seems to have been just enough to maintain a stable population size in the study area. Only in the years 1986–90, there seemed to be a surplus of young produced in the study population resulting in new breeding pairs, predominantly outside the old study area. From a national project with captive breeding, 2,759 young Eagle Owls have been released in nearly all parts of Sweden. Around 1982, the number of pairs originating from the released birds was in equilibrium with the original "wild" population, and in 1995 the released birds and their descendants were about twice as many. In recent years probably many pairs are of mixed origin, and the mixing of the two populations is likely to increase in the future. In total, there were about 400 territories occupied by Eagle Owls in Sweden in 1996.

olsson-biblio

Protecting and managing a local population of the European Green lizard Lacerta viridis at the Prague Zoo, Czech Republic.

International Zoo Yearbook 49: 56-66.

Abstract:

The grounds of Prague Zoo are home to an important population of the European Green lizard Lacerta viridis, which is one of the most threatened species in the Czech Republic. Although generally thought of as common across some of its range, the Green lizard is recorded as critically endangered by legislative regulations in the Czech Republic and is on local Red Data Lists in Germany, although the species is thought to be extinct in other parts of its range. Conservation management is necessary to guarantee the survival of the Green lizard population at Prague Zoo and to coordinate conservation measures with the development of the Zoo site. A detailed conservation-research study was carried out on a model population at the ‘Tiché údolí’ site to obtain the necessary knowledge to establish an appropriate management programme for the Green lizard population at the Zoo. A comprehensive action plan for European Green lizard conservation will be launched at Prague Zoo in 2015.

rehak-biblio