Translocation digest: January 2014

News:

7th reintroduced bighorn reportedly dies in Catalinas, USA

Endangered northern cricket frog may be reintroduced to Long Island

Beaver found wild in Devon, UK, for the first time since the twelfth century.

Wolf reintroduction expanded to North Arizona

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has completed a programmatic safe harbor agreement for the black-footed ferret in cooperation with state, tribal, federal and local partners in 12 states

Post re-introduction drive, Panna Tiger Reserve, India, reclaims its tiger populace

Publications:

Baker, K., Lambdon, P., Jones, E., Pellicer, J., Stroud, S., Renshaw, O., Niissalo, M., Corcoran, M., Clubbe, C. and Sarasan, V. (2014), Rescue, ecology and conservation of a rediscovered island endemic fern (Anogramma ascensionis): ex situ methodologies and a road map for species reintroduction and habitat restoration. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 174: 461–477. doi: 10.1111/boj.12131

Earnhardt, J., Vélez-Valentín, J., Valentin, R., Long, S., Lynch, C. and Schowe, K. (2014), The Puerto Rican parrot reintroduction program: Sustainable management of the aviary population. Zoo Biol., 33: 89–98. doi: 10.1002/zoo.21109

Owen, A., Wilkinson, R. and Sözer, R. (2014), In situ conservation breeding and the role of zoological institutions and private breeders in the recovery of highly endangered Indonesian passerine birds. International Zoo Yearbook, 48: 199–211. doi: 10.1111/izy.12052

Smyser, T. J. and Swihart, R. K. (2014), Allegheny woodrat (Neotoma magister) captive propagation to promote recovery of declining populations. Zoo Biol., 33: 29–35. doi: 10.1002/zoo.21114

Wiedmann, B. P. and Sargeant, G. A. (2014), Ecotypic variation in recruitment of reintroduced bighorn sheep: Implications for translocation. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 78: 394–401. doi: 10.1002/jwmg.669

Translocation digest: December 2013

Projects:

Salmon reintroduction to Canadian Columbia River recommended ...Revelstoke Times Review Salmon migrating upstream in the Bonneville Dam fish ladder. Reintroduction of salmon to the Canadian Columbia River has emerged as an issue in ... See all stories on this topic »
Salmon reintroduction emerges as CRT negotiation issueArrow Lakes News If all goes according to Bill Green's plan, the first reintroduced Columbia River salmon will cross the U.S.-Canada border in 2016, 78 years after the ... See all stories on this topic » 'Rare' Lizard juniper plant reintroduction hope by conservationistsBBC News Conservationists hope to save an "extremely rare" plant which is only found in the wild in the UK in one valley in Cornwall. The team from the Eden ... See all stories on this topic » Idaho's version of “reindeer” more elusive than everThe Spokesman Review (blog) Habitat changes over the past 100 years have continued to limit the success of the cariboureintroduction. A 2012 survey turned up only 27 animals in ... See all stories on this topic » It's no to reintroducing white tigers in MPHindu Business Line The National Tiger Conservation Authority has refused to give its nod forreintroduction of white tigers in Madhya Pradesh saying they have no ... See all stories on this topic » Hindu Business Line Black-footed ferret population recovery plan includes re-introduction ...Topeka Capital Journal The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan would reintroduce ferrets in new areas while officials work more closely with private landowners to avoid a ... See all stories on this topic » San Francisco Chronicle 10 yrs of Black Rhino re-introductionZambia Daily Mail (blog) Simply put, the 10th anniversary of the re-introduction of the black rhino to the North Luangwa National Park recorded a good feedback from the ... See all stories on this topic » Red-legged frogs may hop again soon in the Santa Monica MountainsLos Angeles Times ... biologists start alerting curious visitors to keep their distance from the first red-legged frogreintroduction effort ever attempted in Southern California. See all stories on this topic » State to proceed with Madison bighorn sheep reintroductionMontana Standard With Thursday's approval from the Fish & Wildlife Commission, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks will move forward with the reintroduction of bighorn sheep to ... See all stories on this topic » Victoria to consider reintroduction of alpine cattle grazingThe Guardian The Victorian government says it will consider the controversialreintroduction of cattle grazing in the state's alpine regions if given the go-ahead by federal ... See all stories on this topic » The Guardian Reintroducing eagles to California's Channel IslandsTri-City Weekly It was 1979, when then-Humboldt State University undergraduate Garcelon proposedreintroducing Bald eagles to the islands. While the raptor had previously ... See all stories on this topic » Ratty returns to riverbank after absence of a decadeNorth Devon Journal A much loved animal which has become extinct in a huge tract of the South West is beingreintroduced – Martin Hesp went to Bude Marsh to find out more. See all stories on this topic » Boehle column: Reintroducing American chestnut to the ...Zanesville Times Recorder Be part of the reintroduction of what was once a major species throughout the ... Estimates are that reintroduction could take decades or even centuries, with ... See all stories on this topic » Publications:

ASLAN, C. E., ZAVALETA, E. S., TERSHY, B., CROLL, D. and ROBICHAUX, R. H. (2014), Imperfect Replacement of Native Species by Non-Native Species as Pollinators of Endemic Hawaiian Plants. Conservation Biology, 28: 478–488. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12193

de Avelar Azeredo, R. M. and Simpson, J. G. P. (2014), Rearing the Extinct in the Wild Alagoas curassow Pauxi mitu for future reintroduction programmes. International Zoo Yearbook, 48: 29–38. doi: 10.1111/izy.12047

Liu, S. C., Gillespie, J., Atchison, N. and Andrew, P. (2014), The recovery programme for the Regent honeyeater Anthochaera phrygia: an example of conservation collaboration in Australia. International Zoo Yearbook, 48: 83–91. doi: 10.1111/izy.12040

Raigoza Figueras, R. (2014), Scarlet macaw Ara macao cyanoptera conservation programme in Mexico. International Zoo Yearbook, 48: 48–60. doi: 10.1111/izy.12049

Translocation digest: September 2013

Projects:
Endangered Mussel Is Reintroduced To TennesseeThe Chattanoogan

An endangered mussel came home to a Tennessee river last week, a monumentalreintroduction effort seven years in the making. On Wednesday, federal and ...

See all stories on this topic »

Assisted migration could help plants find a new homeAnchorage Daily News Plants, evolved to move with the natural rhythms of the world, cannot keep up with the rapid pace of climate change we are facing today. Their ideal habitats are ... See all stories on this topic »
Old Whooping Cranes Teach Youngsters Migration Route, And The ...Headlines & Global News After their first human-assisted migration the young birds are on their own, although some choose to travel with other cranes. The team tracks their migration over ... See all stories on this topic » Draft bison reintroduction plan releasedRocky Mountain Outlook Parks Canada has released its draft plan to restore plains bison to the Rocky Mountains of Banff and the federal agency is now seeking comments from the ... See all stories on this topic » Scottish ospreys help Spain reintroductionSurfbirds News (blog) Twelve young Scottish ospreys have been released on the north Spanish coast near Bilbao, as the first stage of a five-year project to restore breeding ospreys to ... See all stories on this topic »

Publications:

Aourir, M., Znari, M., Radi, M. and Melin, J.-M. (2013), Wild-laid versus captive-laid eggs in the black-bellied sandgrouse: Is there any effect on chick productivity?. Zoo Biol., 32: 592–599. doi: 10.1002/zoo.21095

Brown, D. S., Burger, R., Cole, N., Vencatasamy, D., Clare, E. L., Montazam, A. and Symondson, W. O. C. (2013), Dietary competition between the alien Asian Musk Shrew (Suncus murinus) and a re-introduced population of Telfair's Skink (Leiolopisma telfairii). Molecular Ecology. doi: 10.1111/mec.12445

Chauvenet, A. L. M., Ewen, J. G., Armstrong, D., Pettorelli, N. (2013), EDITOR'S CHOICE: Saving the hihi under climate change: a case for assisted colonization. Journal of Applied Ecology, 50: 1330–1340. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.12150

Keller, D. L. and Hartup, B. K. (2013), Reintroduction medicine: Whooping cranes in Wisconsin. Zoo Biol., 32: 600–607. doi: 10.1002/zoo.21097

Lorimer, J. and Driessen, C. (2014), Wild experiments at the Oostvaardersplassen: rethinking environmentalism in the Anthropocene. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 39: 169–181. doi: 10.1111/tran.12030

Translocation digest - June 2013

Translocation projects:

Endangered beetle reintroduced in SW Mo.
Seattle Post Intelligencer
EL DORADO SPRINGS, Mo. (AP) — The Saint Louis Zoo and other conservation groups have been working to restore the population of an endangered beetle in southwest Missouri, and the effort appears successful so far.

In the News: Scarlet macaw reintroduced to parts of Mexico
ARKive (blog)
The first macaw reintroduction took place in April, with a second small flock scheduled for release at the end of June. After this, small groups of 10 to 12 birds at a time will be released until a quota of 60 to 70 for this year is met.

Mountain lion population could pose a threat to reintroduction of bighorns in ...
The Republic
TUCSON, Arizona — An already "robust" population of mountain lions in the Catalina Mountains appears to be increasing — and that could pose a threat to a planned reintroduction of bighorn sheep in the range this fall.

New swan chicks at Lincoln Park Zoo soon to go wild
Chicago Tribune
After about four months growing up with their protective parents, the six endangered chicks will be released into the wild as part of a trumpeter-swan reintroduction and recovery program the zoo has been active in for more than a decade, officials said ...

First translocated rhino gives birth in Manas National Park
Indian Express
Mainao, the first rhino that was translocated to the Manas National Park in western ... and conservation staff working towards bringing Manas back to shape.

4 of 8 California condors died from lead poisoning
NorthJersey.com
Officials with the Peregrine Fund's condor reintroduction project say 72 condors currently fly in a range that stretches from Arizona's Grand Canyon to southern Utah's Zion National Park. There were just 22 condors when a program was started in 1996 to ...

Wild lynx to be brought back to British countryside
Telegraph.co.uk
Senior biologists and cat specialists are this week due to apply for a license to reintroduce the cats, which can grow up to four feet in length, into an area of forest on the west coast of Scotland. Under the plans, which have been backed by officials ...

Can't send lions to gun country: International Union for Conservation of ... Economic Times Besides, the Supreme Court verdict on translocation states, "Re-introduction of Asiatic lion, needless to say, should be in accordance with the guidelines issued by IUCN and with the active participation of experts in the field of re-introduction of ...

Publications:

Benito-Garzón, M., Ha-Duong, M., Frascaria-Lacoste, N. and Fernández-Manjarrés, J. (2013), Habitat Restoration and Climate Change: Dealing with Climate Variability, Incomplete Data, and Management Decisions with Tree Translocations. Restoration Ecology. doi: 10.1111/rec.12032

Hedrick, P. W. (2013), Conservation genetics and the persistence and translocation of small populations: bighorn sheep populations as examples. Animal Conservation. doi: 10.1111/acv.12064

Lawes, T. J., Anthony, R. G., Robinson, W. D., Forbes, J. T. and Lorton, G. A. (2013), Movements and settlement site selection of pygmy rabbits after experimental translocation. The Journal of Wildlife Management. doi: 10.1002/jwmg.572

McCleery, R., Oli, M. K., Hostetler, J. A., Karmacharya, B., Greene, D., Winchester, C., Gore, J., Sneckenberger, S., Castleberry, S. B. and Mengak, M. T. (2013), Are declines of an endangered mammal predation-driven, and can a captive-breeding and release program aid their recovery?. Journal of Zoology. doi: 10.1111/jzo.12046

Christensen, P. and McDonald, T. (2013), Reintroductions and controlling feral predators: Interview with Per Christensen. Ecological Management & Restoration, 14: 93–100. doi: 10.1111/emr.12044

Harris, S., Arnall, S., Byrne, M., Coates, D., Hayward, M., Martin, T., Mitchell, N. and Garnett, S. (2013), Whose backyard? Some precautions in choosing recipient sites for assisted colonisation of Australian plants and animals. Ecological Management & Restoration, 14: 106–111. doi: 10.1111/emr.12041

WOODFORD, J. E., MACFARLAND, D. M. and WORLAND, M. (2013), Movement, survival, and home range size of translocated american martens (Martes americana) in wisconsin. Wildlife Society Bulletin. doi: 10.1002/wsb.291

SMYSER, T. J., JOHNSON, S. A., KRISTEN PAGE, L., HUDSON, C. M. and RHODES, O. E. (2013), Use of Experimental Translocations of Allegheny Woodrat to Decipher Causal Agents of Decline. Conservation Biology. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12064

Runge, M. C. (2013), Active adaptive management for reintroduction of an animal population. The Journal of Wildlife Management. doi: 10.1002/jwmg.571

COLLAZO, J. A., FACKLER, P. L., PACIFICI, K., WHITE, T. H., LLERANDI-ROMAN, I. and DINSMORE, S. J. (2013), Optimal allocation of captive-reared Puerto Rican parrots: Decisions when divergent dynamics characterize managed populations. The Journal of Wildlife Management. doi: 10.1002/jwmg.569

GRIFFITHS, C. J., ZUËL, N., JONES, C. G., AHAMUD, Z. and HARRIS, S. (2013), Assessing the Potential to Restore Historic Grazing Ecosystems with Tortoise Ecological Replacements. Conservation Biology. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12087

IUCN/SSC Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations - final version released

Just a quick update to let everyone know that the fully formatted version of the IUCN/SSC Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations (including annexes) has now been released and you can get a copy by emailing me: s.e.dalrymple@gmail.com or following this link:
http://www.issg.org/pdf/publications/RSG_ISSG-Reintroduction-Guidelines-2013.pdf

It's the same in content as the 'interim' version which I know many of you have seen but the final release looks nicer and has the full citation details:

IUCN/SSC (2013). Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations. Version 1.0. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN Species Survival Commission, viiii + 57 pp.  ISBN: 978-2-8317-1609-1

Translocation digest - April 2013

SA, Botswana in rhino translocation deal
South Africa.info
The translocation was facilitated in partnership with conservation organisation Rhino Force and funded by insurance administrator Motorite Administrators.

&Beyond translocate six white rhino to Okavango Delta
Bizcommunity.com
Translocations are fundamental to secure the survival of endangered species. This project is led by &Beyond's conservation team and aims to increase ...

Kihansi Toads Reintroduced in the Wilderness
AllAfrica.com
Kilombero — TANZANIA has gone down in history as the world's first country to successfullyreintroduce into the wild amphibians that had been in danger of extinction. This has been revealed during the release of the second batch of 1,500 Kihansi Spray ...

The Reintroduction of Wolves | Skeptoid
Out of the efforts of these latter a federal wolf reintroduction program was born, the future of which has been the subject of a long and bitter debate in the ...

Reintroduction of Wolves Remains Contentious - Arizona Public Media
A recovery effort has been underway for decades and reached a milestone in 1998 when wolves werereintroduced into their historic territories in Arizona and ...

Conserving the Aplomado falcon
The Northern Aplomado Falcon is a beautiful raptor with a former range including all of South America, Central America, Mexico, and the southwestern United States. It's also critically endangered. That's why Bill Heinrich, Species Restoration Manager for The Peregrine Fund, is working to restore this species to its former U.S. range.


Publications:

La Haye, M. J. J., Koelewijn, H. P., Siepel, H., Verwimp, N. and Windig, J. (2012). Genetic rescue and the increase of litter size in the recovery breeding program of the common hamster (Cricetus cricetus) in the Netherlands. Relatedness, inbreeding and heritability of litter size in a breeding program of an endangered rodent. Hereditas, 149: 207–216. doi: 10.1111/j.1601-5223.2012.02277.x

King, R. S., Trutwin, J. J., Hunter, T. S. and Varner, D. M. (2013), Effects of environmental stressors on nest success of introduced birds. The Journal of Wildlife Management. doi: 10.1002/jwmg.528

Bell, T. J., Powell, K. I. and Bowles, M. L. (2013), Viability model choice affects projection accuracy and reintroduction decisions. The Journal of Wildlife Management. doi: 10.1002/jwmg.525

Jachowski, D. S., Slotow, R. and Millspaugh, J. J. (2013), Delayed physiological acclimatization by African elephants following reintroduction. Animal Conservation. doi: 10.1111/acv.12031

HARRINGTON, L. A., MOEHRENSCHLAGER, A., GELLING, M., ATKINSON, R. P. D., HUGHES, J. and MACDONALD, D. W. (2013), Conflicting and Complementary Ethics of Animal Welfare Considerations in Reintroductions. Conservation Biology. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12021

HUNTER, E. A., GIBBS, J. P., CAYOT, L. J. and TAPIA, W. (2013), Equivalency of Galápagos Giant Tortoises Used as Ecological Replacement Species to Restore Ecosystem Functions. Conservation Biology. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12038

Learning from non-conservation translocations: "Conspecifics can be aliens too..."

I was very glad to receive the paper featured in this post from one of the co-authors, Jocelyn Champagnon, as this review has some important conclusions to draw in terms of restocking practices. The authors have not restricted themselves to looking at restocking for conservation purposes only, instead, they draw on a range of reasons that result in the mixing of conspecifics from wild and captive sources and their conclusions are all the more valuable as a result.  These release events include making a target population of a threatened species viable, enhancing future harvests of for example, game birds, unintentional escapes from fish farms and fur farms and releases motivated by an ethical standpoint on animal welfare.  These and other reasons for release are described in the paper in a useful and enlightening summary that really opened my eyes to the diversity of reasons that can result in conspecifics from captive and wild populations mixing.

The review summarises the effects of restocking (intentionally or not) on wild and translocated individuals using 233 studies to provide a thorough overview of the possible implications. The explanations are too detailed to cover here but include behavioural, genetic, demographic and pathogenic impacts, both positive and negative for both wild and captive-bred individuals. Of particular interest to me were revelations on dispersal behaviour; in mobile species captive-bred individuals tend to disperse further than their wild counterparts. This means that the intended positive effects of restocking e.g. improved social interactions, are not attained and furthermore, the captive-bred animals are more likely to perish during migration, select unsuitable habitat, and fail to breed.  Another interesting finding is that population trends may be positive due to the introduction of new individuals to the group but practitioners should be aware that this might mask underlying problems. Mixing many individuals in one site might result in better demographic and social dynamics but if the reason for decline is unfavourable habitat, eventually the captive-bred animals may also succumb in time.

As part of the conservation translocation community, I think we would benefit by wider adoption of the following recommendations adapted from the paper:

• Avoid selection in captivity.
• Choose genetic strains that are as close as possible to wild target populations
• Vaccination and diseas screening should be routine practice.
• There is an urgent need for monitoring the size, duration and success of restocking events and this would be enhanced if individuals were identifiable using e.g. tags or rings etc.
• Policy-makers and managers need to encourage studies that reduce research bias e.g. addressing the lack of rigorous studies on harvest enhancing interventions.
• Practitioners in conservation, game management, fisheries, epidemiology and other relevant fields would benefit by working across disciplines.

By using restocking events from a range of motivations and circumstances, Jocelyn and her co-authors have added weight to the idea that translocations for non-conservation purposes have much to teach us when using translocations to effect conservation benefit. Ultimately, mixing wild and captive-bred individuals will impact upon each other regardless of how well-intentioned the motivation, if it is intentional at all. Augmenting wild populations have many positive and negative impacts but it is critical to realise that most of the effects covered here are unintended and unforeseen. The process of removing individuals from the wild has the effect of altering traits, or at least, their offspring's traits, resulting in a markedly different animal. Many of these problems are familiar from invasive species biology but with the added problem that genetic and behavioural barriers that normally occur between wild animals and non-native invasives are not there. As the title of the paper neatly states, conspecifics can be aliens too and this comes with all the associated problems of invasive non-natives and more.

For the full paper (and I'd recommend that you read the full thing) please contact Jocelyn by email or download using the following citation:

Champagnon, J., Elmberg, J., Guillemain, M., Gauthier-Clerc, M., & Lebreton, J.-D. (2012). Conspecifics can be aliens too: A review of effects of restocking practices in vertebrates. Journal for Nature Conservation, 20(4), 231–241. doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2012.02.002

1 million fish reveal translocation and captive-breeding synergies

The translocation described in this post could be an example of assisted migration although not in the sense that this is a climate change-motivated intervention. The movement of the Chinook salmon described by Holsman et al (2012) is assisting migration by transporting fish passed hydroelectric dams from the spawning headwaters to the ocean. As someone who has worked with threatened species and the small numbers of individuals this normally entails, I am envious of their sample size - over 1 million tagged fish made up the dataset and allowed an exceptional number of explanatory variables and interactions to be explored.


Key to their findings are the fact that their million fish represented wild and captively reared individuals, and translocated fish (moved down river) and non-translocated fish (in-river migrants) in all combinations over the period 1998 - 2006. They found that the origin of the fish and whether they were translocated around the hydropower schemes interacted synergistically on fish mortality: captive-reared fish benefited from being transported while wild fish were detrimentally affected by translocation. The latter occurred despite the fact that transportation should minimise deaths associated with migrating through hydropower systems.


The authors go on to explore a range of factors affecting survival in the marine environment before concluding with three important recommendations for management. Firstly, that the effects of management and environment can interact and this must be considered at the outset of any conservation programme. Secondly, that the survival translocated or captive-bred populations cannot be predicted from survival of wild populations because the intervention can alter some of the key phenological, behavioural, genetic and demographic parameters of a cohort. Thirdly, and I feel most importantly, practitioners should adopt an adaptive management approach. Whilst Holsman et al (2012) have the benefit of 1 million fish in their dataset, all translocation projects can improve the ability to identify and respond to unexpected and detrimental outcomes if translocated plants and animals are followed throughout the translocation programme on an individual basis.  As a systematic reviewer of plant reintroductions, I can vouch for this recommendation - survival analysis of an entire cohort is much more diagnostically powerful than samples of an already small population. However, I know it is easier said than done if you are say, trying to reintroduce a plant using seed, but it's not impossible and the rewards for the success of the project are more than worth it.

Holsman, K. K., Scheuerell, M. D., Buhle, E., & Emmett, R. (2012). Interacting Effects of Translocation, Artificial Propagation, and Environmental Conditions on the Marine Survival of Chinook Salmon from the Columbia River, Washington, U.S.A. Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology, 26(5), 912–922. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2012.01895.x