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expertise. Likewise, overall changes in economic health of organizations can lead to mid-stream 

 abandonment of programs. Of course, problems with continuity are not unique to captive 

 breeding programs, and can affect complex in situ conservation efforts as well. 



(7) Preemption of other, better techniques . Another significant limitations of captive 

 breeding is that is can preempt attention and resources from better, long-term conservation 

 solutions. The existence of a captive population can give the inpression that the species is 

 "safe" and allow agencies to ignore long-term solutions that are often more difficult politically, 

 though much more effective and beneficial biologically. 



When is Captive Breeding Advantageous in Species Recovery? 



Because of the risks and limitations of the technique, APC believes that captive breeding 

 should be invoked as a species recovery approach under carefully defined circumstances. The 

 decision to start captive breeding for this purpose should be made only on a case-by-case basis 

 and only following a comprehensive evaluation of conservation alternatives at the field level. 

 It should not be made simply because some individuals are already in captivity and numbers of 

 the species seem relatively low. Further, it should not be made when resources to conduct 

 captive breeding comprehensively and humanely arc unavailable. 



In general, captive breeding can be justified as a desirable conservation approach when 

 (1) species are so rapidly approaching extinction that they cannot be expected to survive without 

 intensive intervention of some sort and either effective conservation alternatives are clearly 

 unavailable in the short term or sufficient time to investigate alternatives does not exist, or (2) 

 all or nearly all individuals of a species are already in captivity and it is deemed worthwhile to 

 attempt to recstablishment of the wild populations, or (3) other conditions prevail that make 

 captive breeding and reintroduction absolutely essential for preservation of the species in the 

 wild. 



When captive breeding should begin for species in rapid decline is often a point of 

 vigorous controversy. Qearly, waiting too long before starting will risk genetic deterioration and 

 potential failure in developing adequate husbandry techniques, especially if technology for captive 

 breeding of the species or closely related species has not previously been researched. However, 

 starting too soon can represent unnecessary expense, accentuate genetic and behavioral 

 management problems, and focus resources in unproductive directions, preempting other 

 approaches that can offer potentials for more stable, long-term benefits. Population trends are 

 often far more important than absolute numbers in making decisions as to whether and when 

 captive breeding is warranted. Steeply declining species are cause for special concern, and care 

 needs to be taken not to wait too long in establishing captive populations if effective alternatives 

 are unavailable. In making such decisions, it is important to recognize the difference between 

 ephemeral short-term population fluctuations and pervasive long-term population trends. 



APC does not endorse captive breeding programs for species recovery that are 

 independent of efforts to develop alternative, long-term conservation solutions for wild 

 populations. In general, APC urges that wild populations be sustained at the time captive 

 populations are established so that research into Umiting factors can take place and problems in 

 the wild can be identified and corrected, and so that reintroductions of captives to the wild can 

 enjoy the advantages of linkage with wild populations. 



Finally, APC believes that captive breeding efforts for species recovery should proceed 

 only when endorsed by the governments of the countries involved and should observe the 

 precautions specified in the preceding sections. 



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