Captive husbandry and breeding of the Nguru spiny pygmy chameleon Rhampholeon acuminatus

The Nguru spiny pygmy chameleon (Rhampholeon acuminatus) is endemic to the Nguru mountains in Tanzania. It is assessed as Critically Endangered and is collected from the wild for the pet trade. An ex-situ population of this species was recently established at The Wild Planet Trust, Paignton Zoo, in the hope of learning more about the husbandry and biology of this species. We report on the captive husbandry of adults and the successful breeding, hatching and rearing of juveniles. Females carried four eggs but laid them in pairs. When eggs were incubated at 19.2-22.8 °C, hatchlings emerged roughly 180 days after laying. The hatchlings had a total length of about 30 mm and weighed 0.2-0.3 g. To our knowledge, this is the first published account of captive breeding for this species. The husbandry methods described could be used to establish populations of this and other Rhampholeon species in captivity, which in turn would reduce the demand for wild caught (Rhampholeon), as well as inform future conservation breeding programmes for this species.

Designing anti-predator training to maximize learning and efficacy assessments

Despite the growing need to use conservation breeding and translocations in species’ recovery, many attempts to reintroduce animals to the wild fail due to predation post-release. Released animals often lack appropriate behaviours for survival, including anti-predator responses. Anti-predator training—a method for encouraging animals to exhibit wariness and defensive responses to predators—has been used to help address this challenge with varying degrees of success. The efficacy of anti-predator training hinges on animals learning to recognize and respond to predators, but learning is rarely assessed, or interventions miss key experimental controls to document learning. An accurate measure of learning serves as a diagnostic tool for improving training if it otherwise fails to reduce predation. Here we present an experimental framework for designing anti-predator training that incorporates suitable controls to infer predator-specific learning and illustrate their use with the critically endangered Hawaiian crow, ‘alalā (Corvus hawaiiensis). We conducted anti-predator training within a conservation breeding facility to increase anti-predator behaviour towards a natural predator, the Hawaiian hawk, ‘io (Buteo solitaries). In addition to running live-predator training trials, we included two control groups, aimed at determining if responses could otherwise be due to accumulated stress and agitation, or to generalized increases in fear of movement. We found that without these control groups we may have wrongly concluded that predator-specific learning occurred. Additionally, despite generations in human care that can erode anti-predator responses, ‘alalā showed unexpectedly high levels of predatory wariness during baseline assessments. We discuss the implications of a learning-focused approach to training for managing endangered species that require improved behavioural competence for dealing with predatory threats, and the importance of understanding learning mechanisms in diagnosing behavioural problems.

Mate Preference Plasticity in a Critically Endangered Frog: Implications for Conservation Breeding

Variation in female mate preferences for male traits remains poorly understood (both among and within females), despite having important evolutionary and conservation implications, particularly for captive breeding. Here, we investigate female mate preferences for male advertisement call frequency, and determine whether preferences vary over repeated trials, in the critically endangered southern corroboree frog, Pseudophryne corroboree. We conducted a series of phonotaxis trials in a six-speaker arena where naïve, captive-bred, virgin females were offered a choice between low, average and high frequency male advertisement calls, with a subset of females tested repeatedly. In the first trial, we found no evidence for a population-level preference for call frequency, but females spent less time in the low call zone than expected by chance. However, our results showed that female mate preferences changed over sequential trials. Females spent significantly more time in the low frequency call zone in the third trial compared to the first trial, and, in the last trial, females exhibited a significant population-level preference for low frequency calls. Subsequently, repeatability estimates of female preferences were low and did not significantly deviate from zero. Our results indicate that female P. corroboree mate preferences can exhibit temporal variation, and suggest that females are more attracted to low call frequencies after repeated exposure. These findings imply that female P. corroboree may become choosier over time, and highlight the potential for mate preferences to exhibit phenotypic plasticity within a single reproductive cycle. Overall, these findings provide the first information on mate preferences in P. corroboree, and emphasize the importance of considering individual variation in mate choice studies. From a conservation perspective, knowledge of individual variation in female mate preferences may be used to conduct behavioral manipulations in captivity that facilitate the breeding of genetically valuable individuals, and improve the success of conservation breeding programs.

Sharing cities with avian scavengers: sustainable development in social-ecological systems

Correlations in the timings of vulture collapse and rapid urbanisation in South Asia have affected the benefit trade-offs concerning conservation-breeding for vulture restoration. We show how the loss of vultures 30 years ago has led to the extinction of experience amongst people in South Asia who are co-adapted to various animal species within shared landscapes. We conducted ethnography, involving avian scavengers (vultures, kites and crows) in Delhi, to unpack how salience and charisma for avian scavenger’s link with socio-cultural legends. Perceptions about avian scavengers were based on birds’ appearance, behaviour, and ecosystem services. Anthropomorphisation mediated human-animal co-adaptation and drove ritual feeding of commensals that opportunistically consume garbage. Conflated with ethnoecology, such human-constructed niches supported enormous animal populations in the region and drove mutual tolerance. Prior evaluations of scavengers’ niche from biophysical perspectives alone have, therefore, overlooked links between vultures and animal husbandry practices. It undermined competitive release on commensals that have responded by an increase in numbers and distribution, by taking advantage of ritual feeding and people’s affiliative attitudes. The absence of vultures limits the availability of spaces where animal husbandry can be practised. Conversely, expanding built-up spaces, overhead wires, fake news, and interference from competing scavengers will be impediments to vulture restoration. Conservation policies should examine immediate and long-term objectives of solid waste disposal, considering the odds against the attainment of former functional ecology by vultures. We conclude that wildlife restoration in urbanising tropical landscapes is a moving target, necessitating policies sensitive to progressive loss and/or changes in associative heritage due to shifting economic and cultural practices.

Sharing cities with avian scavengers: sustainable development in social-ecological systems

Correlations in the timings of vulture collapse and rapid urbanisation in South Asia have affected the benefit trade-offs concerning conservation-breeding for vulture restoration. We show how the loss of vultures 30 years ago has led to the extinction of experience amongst people in South Asia who are co-adapted to various animal species within shared landscapes. We conducted ethnography that focused on avian scavengers (vultures, kites and crows) in Delhi to unpack how salience and charisma for avian scavengers link with socio-cultural legends. Perceptions about avian scavengers were based on birds’ appearance, behaviour, and ecosystem services. Anthropomorphisation mediated human-animal co-adaptation and drove ritual feeding of commensals that opportunistically consume garbage. Conflated with ethnoecology, such human-constructed niches supported enormous animal populations in the region and drove mutual tolerance. Prior evaluations of scavengers’ niche from biophysical perspectives alone have, therefore, overlooked links between vultures and animal husbandry practices. It undermined competitive release on commensals that have responded by an increase in numbers and distribution, by taking advantage of ritual feeding and people’s affiliative attitudes. The absence of vultures limits the availability of spaces where animal husbandry can be practised. Conversely, expanding built-up spaces, overhead wires, fake news, and interference from competing scavengers will be impediments to vulture restoration. Conservation policies should examine immediate and long-term objectives of solid waste disposal, considering the odds against the attainment of the yesteryear functional ecology of vultures in South Asia. We conclude that wildlife restoration in urbanising tropical landscapes is a moving target, necessitating policies sensitive to progressive loss and/or changes in associative heritage due to shifting economic and cultural practices.

Genetic effects of long-term captive breeding on the endangered pygmy hog

Long-term captive populations often accumulate genetic changes that are detrimental to their survival in the wild. Periodic genetic evaluation of captive populations is thus necessary to identify deleterious changes and minimize their impact through planned breeding. Pygmy hog (Porcula salvania) is an endangered species with a small population inhabiting the tall sub-Himalayan grasslands of Assam, India. A conservation breeding program of pygmy hog from six founders has produced a multi-generational captive population destined for reintroduction into the wild. However, the impact of conservation breeding on its genetic diversity remained undocumented. Here, we evaluate temporal genetic changes in 39 pygmy hogs from eight consecutive generations of a captive population using genome-wide SNPs, mitochondrial genomes, and MHC sequences, and explore the relationship between genetic diversity and reproductive success. We find that pygmy hog harbors a very low genome-wide heterozygosity (H) compared to other members of the Suidae family. However, within the captive population we find excess heterozygosity and a significant increase in H from the wild-caught founders to the individuals in subsequent generations due to the selective pairing strategy. The MHC and mitochondrial nucleotide diversities were lower in captive generations compared to the founders with a high prevalence of low-frequency MHC haplotypes and more unique mitochondrial genomes. Further, even though no signs of genetic inbreeding were observed from the estimates of individual inbreeding coefficient F and between individuals (FIS) in each generation, the kinship coefficient showed a slightly increasing trend in the recent generations, due to a relatively smaller non-random sample size compared to the entire captive population. Surprisingly, male pygmy hogs that had higher heterozygosity also showed lower breeding success. We briefly discuss the implications of our findings in the context of breeding management and recommend steps to minimize the genetic effects of long-term captive breeding.

Vulture loss and urbanisation correlations form blind spots for conservation and development

Correlations in the timings of vulture collapse and rapid urbanisation in South Asia have affected the benefit trade-offs concerning conservation-breeding for vulture restoration. We show how the loss of vultures 30 years ago has led to the extinction of experience amongst people in South Asia who are co-adapted to various animal species within shared landscapes. We conducted ethnography, involving avian scavengers (vultures, kites and crows) in Delhi, to unpack how salience and charisma for avian scavenger’s link with socio-cultural legends. Perceptions about avian scavengers were based on birds’ appearance, behaviour, and ecosystem services. Anthropomorphisation mediated human-animal co-adaptation and drove ritual feeding of commensals that opportunistically consume garbage. Conflated with ethnoecology, such human-constructed niches supported enormous animal populations in the region and drove mutual tolerance. Prior evaluations of scavengers’ niche from biophysical perspectives alone have, therefore, overlooked prior links between vultures and animal husbandry practices. It undermined competitive release on commensals that have responded by an increase in numbers and distribution, by taking advantage of ritual feeding and people’s affiliative attitudes. The absence of vultures limits the availability of spaces where animal husbandry can be practised. Conversely, expanding built-up spaces, overhead wires, fake news, and interference from competing scavengers will be impediments to vulture restoration. Conservation policies should examine immediate and long-term objectives of solid waste disposal, considering the odds against the attainment of former functional ecology by vultures. We conclude that wildlife restoration in urbanising tropical landscapes is a moving target, necessitating policies sensitive to progressive loss and/or changes in associative heritage due to shifting economic and cultural practices.

Temporal trends in performance and hatchability traits of eight strains of hens covered by the gene pool protection programme in Poland

The aim of the study was to determine trends in performance and hatchability traits of eight strains of hens that have been covered by the gene pool protection programme in Poland over ten years/generations. The study involved conservation populations of laying hens: Greenleg Partridge (Z-11), Yellowleg Partridge (Ż-33), Sussex (S-66), Leghorn (H-22, G99), Rhode Island Red (R-11, K-22) and Rhode Island White (A-33), which were maintained at the Experimental Station of the National Research Institute of Animal Production in Chorzelów. The following productive traits were analysed for each population: body weight at 20 wk (g), egg weight at 33 and 53 wk, sexual maturity and number of eggs laid per hen up to 56 wk of age. Mortality and culling were also recorded during rearing and production periods. Furthermore, effective population size (Ne) and inbreeding coefficient in the population (Fx) were calculated for each strain. The analysis of the performance results of the eight strains of hens and their trends indicate that the methods of conservation breeding adopted for these populations enable effective implementation of the conservation programme. The strains were found to differ in all the performance traits subjected to evaluation. Over the 10 generations, the strains examined showed high survival and hatchability parameters during both rearing and production periods. The currently used random mating system proved effective to prevent the populations from an increase of inbreeding. However, a worrying downward trend in body weight was observed in some strains.

The captive population of the Lion-tailed Macaque Macaca silenus (Linnaeus, 1758). The future of an endangered primate under human care

For conservation breeding, the endangered Lion-tailed Macaques have been maintained in North America under SSP since 1983 and in Europe under EEP since 1989. Based on a growing interest to support the species long-term survival, the SSP population increased considerably during the first few years of the programme but due to space problems and resulting birth control measures, it has drastically declined to small numbers and a non- breeding status at present. The EEP population continually increased till 2012, but due to the lack of spaces and birth control practises, it has gradually declined since then. It is emphasised that the knowledge gained from field studies on Lion-tailed Macaques in India and its incorporation for captive management under EEP has helped develop appropriate management strategies. Captive propagation of the Lion-tailed Macaque in India, the habitat country, can profit from the successes and drawbacks of the long-term management experiences of SSP and EEP.