Conservation breeding programmes: an important ingredient for species survival

Captive populations for the primary purpose of securing the survival of species through stable self-sustaining populations need to be founded and managed according to sound scientific principles. Given the current rate of habitat fragmentation and its effect on animal populations, species conservation over the long term increasingly will require management to reduce risk of extinction. This may include ex situ populations which can support and interact demographically and genetically with wild populations. This paper presents a review of what can be achieved through a multidisciplinary approach, involving science, interactive management, politics, environmental education, habitat preservation and habitat restoration. Examples of what conservation-oriented breeding programmes have contributed to date, what represents a viable population and what is meant by effective conservation are provided, and various scenarios for the future are discussed.