Captive breeding programs are widely used for the conservation and restoration of threatened and endangered species. Nevertheless, captive-born individuals frequently have reduced fitness when reintroduced into the wild. The mechanism for these fitness declines has remained elusive, but hypotheses include environmental effects of captive rearing, inbreeding among close relatives, relaxed natura...

Plant–plant interactions can be a complex mixture of positive and negative interactions, with the net outcome depending on abiotic and community contexts. In savanna systems, the effects of large herbivores on tree– grass interactions have rarely been studied experimentally, though these herbivores are major players in these systems. In African savannas, trees often become more abundant under h...

The mechanisms that drive density dependence are rarely studied in the applied context of population management. We examined the potential for competition for food and shelter and the resulting demographic density dependence to influence how well populations of the eastern king prawn Penaeus plebejus Hess can recover following marine stock enhancement programmes in which captive-bred juveniles ...

Genetic variability among captive and wild ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) was assessed using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA data. A 529 bp segment of mtDNA was sequenced and 9 microsatellite loci were genotyped for 286 ring-tailed lemurs. Samples were obtained from the well-studied L. catta population at the Bezà Mahafaly Special Reserve and from captive animals at six institutions worldwide. ...

Captive breeding is a high profile management tool used for conserving threatened species. However, the inevitable consequence of generations in captivity is broad scale and often-rapid phenotypic divergence between captive and wild individuals, through environmental differences and genetic processes. Although poorly understood, mate choice preference is one of the changes that may occur in cap...

Ex situ management strategies play an important role in the conservation of threatened species when the wild survival of the species cannot be ensured. Molecular markers have become an outstanding tool for the evaluation and management of captive breeding programs. Two main genetic objectives should be prioritized when planning breeding programs: the maintenance of maximum neutral genetic diver...

The global species extinction crisis has provided the impetus for elaborate translocation, captive breeding, and cloning programs, but more extreme actions may be necessary. We used mitochondrial DNA, Y-chromosome, and nuclear lactoferrin-encoding gene sequencing to identify a wild population of a pure-strain endangered bovid (Bos javanicus) introduced into northern Australia over 150 years ago...

AasTaAcT. -Food consumption, energy metabolism, and growth of 12 wild Golden Eagle (Aquilu chrysaetos) chicks were compared with 4 captive chicks to evaluate the influence of food availability and sibling interaction on growth in wild nestlings. Captive female and male eaglets consumed and assimilated similar amounts of black-tailed jack rabbit (Lepus calijbrnicus). A linear relationship betwee...