Translocation digest: August 2013

Projects:

Sea eagles breed on east coast of Scotland for first time in almost ...Telegraph.co.uk

Most have moved long distances from the release point, with some ending up in the west Highlands where birds have been reintroduced at different sites over a ...

See all stories on this topic »

PLANTS CONSIDERED FOR ASSISTED MIGRATION TO ...GardenNews.biz (press release)

Adam Smith, an ecologist at the Missouri Botanical Garden has begun to determine the ability of “chaperoned” assisted migration to aid plants in responding to ...

See all stories on this topic »

Ibis reintroduction program sees fledging successThe Japan Times

NIIGATA – Kei Osada, 41, is the man behind the recent success of a government effort toreintroduce the crested ibis as part of a captive breeding program for ...

See all stories on this topic »

Keeping the Seychelles Island Giant Tortoises Off the Endangered ...The Edwardsville Intelligencer

Initial results of Giant Tortoise reintroduction seem positive, but close monitoring and care will need to be a priority as this delicate balance takes place. Full text ...

See all stories on this topic »

New born beavers pictured at trial site aimed at bringing the animal ...Scottish Daily Record

The five youngsters or "kits" have been spotted at the Scottish beaver trial site at Knapdale in Argyll, the only licensed reintroduction scheme for beavers - and ...

See all stories on this topic »

Plan seeks 'chaperones' for threatened speciesNature.com

Critics claim that such 'assisted migration' could transform struggling species into destructive invaders, or inadvertently transmit disease, or that hybridization ...

See all stories on this topic »

A timeline of the desert tortoise's slow and steady declineHigh Country News

Fish and Wildlife and the San Diego Zoo experimentally translocated juvenile tortoises from the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center to the former Nevada Test ...

See all stories on this topic »

Publications:

Bristol, R. M., Tucker, R., Dawson, D. A., Horsburgh, G., Prys-Jones, R. P., Frantz, A. C., Krupa, A., Shah, N. J., Burke, T. and Groombridge, J. J. (2013), Comparison of historical bottleneck effects and genetic consequences of re-introduction in a critically endangered island passerine. Molecular Ecology, 22: 4644–4662. doi: 10.1111/mec.12429

CULLINGHAM, C. I. and MOEHRENSCHLAGER, A. (2013), Temporal Analysis of Genetic Structure to Assess Population Dynamics of Reintroduced Swift Foxes. Conservation Biology, 27: 1389–1398. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12122

Fisk, J. M., Kwak, T. J. and Heise, R. J. (2014), Modelling riverine habitat for robust redhorse: assessment for reintroduction of an imperilled species. Fisheries Management and Ecology, 21: 57–67. doi: 10.1111/fme.12050

Gomez, E. D., Cabaitan, P. C., Yap, H. T. and Dizon, R. M. (2014), Can Coral Cover be Restored in the Absence of Natural Recruitment and Reef Recovery?. Restoration Ecology, 22: 142–150. doi: 10.1111/rec.12041

Jones, T. A. (2013), When local isn't best. Evolutionary Applications, 6: 1109–1118. doi: 10.1111/eva.12090

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: July 2013

Projects:

Free State's first wild cheetah in 100 years
News24
"This reintroduction marks an extremely important moment in our battle to save the Cheetah from extinction. The reintroduction is the culmination of years of work and the building of great relationships and we are extremely excited to be returning this ...

Volunteer to report wild turkey sightings
WDEL 1150AM
This reintroduction resulted in today's 5,000 wild turkeys in Delaware, which are crucial to the annual turkey hunting season. The information gathered by volunteers will help track wild turkey health, distribution and reproductive success. If you spot ...

First Killer Whale Reintroduced to Wild Has Baby National Geographic The only killer whale known to be put back into the wild after human intervention was spotted with her first baby last week. In 2002, a young killer whale named Springer was reintroduced to her pod in northern Vancouver Island (map), Canada, after she ... See all stories on this topic »

Osprey chicks to be reintroduced to the wild Dubuque Telegraph Herald Nature lovers and the simply curious can witness the reintroduction of osprey chicks Wednesday morning. The chicks will be reintroduced as part of the Mud Lake Osprey Project at 9 a.m. at Mud Lake Park, according to a news release. Translocating animals outside home turf is high risk ... Times of India AHMEDABAD: The latest guidelines of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on translocation of wildlife could prove to be a major ... Park life: The Cairngorms' lost beasts BBC News But beavers are just one animal on a list of 22 creatures assessed for potential reintroduction, or targeted conservation efforts, to Britain's largest national park. Wildlife on the list were either were wiped out because of over-hunting or ... See all stories on this topic » First Persian leopard cubs born in Russia for 50 years Phys.Org The Persian Leopard Reintroduction Program is run by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation with participation of the Sochi National Park, Caucasus Nature Reserve, A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, ... See all stories on this topic » Endangered minnow being reintroduced in MissouriKansas City Star A once abundant minnow that's been listed as federally endangered for 15 years and is now “in serious trouble” in Missouri is being reintroduced into waterways ... See all stories on this topic »

Publications:

Converse, S. J., Moore, C. T. and Armstrong, D. P. (2013), Demographics of reintroduced populations: Estimation, modeling, and decision analysis. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 77: 1081–1093. doi: 10.1002/jwmg.590

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, 27: 690–700. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12087

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, 27: 701–709. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12038

Reynolds, M. H., Weiser, E., Jamieson, I. and Hatfield, J. S. (2013), Demographic variation, reintroduction, and persistence of an island duck (Anas laysanensis). The Journal of Wildlife Management, 77: 1094–1103. doi: 10.1002/jwmg.582

Seidel, S. A., Comer, C. E., Conway, W. C., Deyoung, R. W., Hardin, J. B. and Calkins, G. E. (2013), Influence of translocations on eastern wild turkey population genetics in Texas. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 77: 1221–1231. doi: 10.1002/jwmg.575

Sites, J. W. (2013), Extinction, reintroduction, and restoration of a lizard meta-population equilibrium in the missouri ozarks. Molecular Ecology, 22: 3653–3655. doi: 10.1111/mec.12357

SMYSER, T. J., JOHNSON, S. A., PAGE, L. K., HUDSON, C. M. and RHODES, O. E. (2013), Use of Experimental Translocations of Allegheny Woodrat to Decipher Causal Agents of Decline. Conservation Biology, 27: 752–762. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12064

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

Reintroduction or ecological replacement? Or both?

Firstly, happy new year and apologies for the break in posts as a result of my baby girl falling ill (she's now better) and Christmas. Normal weekly service will now resume and I have a backlog of posts to bring you of which this is the first.

The idea for this post was prompted by a widely-reported paper on the genetic legacy of Lonesome George, the last known purebred individual of Chelonoidis abingdoni, or Galapagos giant tortoise native to Pinta Island (Edwards et al. 2013, authors webpage here). The discovery of individuals with very similar genetic ancestry on another island (Isabela Island) provides hope that hybrids with C. abingdoni parents could be taken into captive breeding programmes to produce tortoises that might be translocated to 'back' Pinta Island. The authors suggest an interesting strategy of tiered translocation whereby any individuals with a very high genetic similarity to the extinct Pinta Island tortoises are saved for the captive breeding whilst hybrids that are further removed (offspring of hybrids rather than purebreds) are moved directly to Pinta, the former constituting reintroduction albeit with a little genetic mixing, the latter being an example of ecological replacement (see page on definitions). This would be motivated by the need to restore giant tortoises as ecosystem engineers and would hopefully improve the habitat quality prior to release of the 'purer' individuals.

On reading this, I went back to another paper from three years ago (Hansen et al. 2010) in which the authors discuss the pros and cons of a range of translocations of large and giant tortoises. Back then, Lonesome George had mated unsuccessfully with females of a similar subspecies but there was still hope that

First ever 'Reintroduction Biologist' - heralding a new era for the sub-discipline?

Today I read an article on the Chicago Tribune website that named a member of staff at Lincoln Park Zoo as the first ever person to have 'reintroduction biologist' as their job title (http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-09-05/entertainment/ct-ent-0906-green-snakes-20120905_1_snakes-lincoln-park-zoo-herpetology).  Given that Phil Seddon, Doug Armstrong and Richard Maloney wrote "there is therefore now a recognizable field of reintroduction biology" only five years ago (Seddon et al. 2007), this represents quite a development and a milestone the translocation community should be aware of.

Hopefully we'll see more people join Allison Sacerdote, the Lincoln Park Zoo employee, as the profession develops.  Perhaps more importantly, we'll see increasing numbers of employees of zoos, botanic gardens and statutory agencies who adopt an 'experimental' approach called for by Seddon et al. (2007) and adopted by Sacerdote. In the featured reintroduction project, she will be comparing 'hard' and 'soft' release techniques in order to develop effective protocols for smooth green snakes in Illinois.

Seddon, P. J., Armstrong, D. P., & Maloney, R. F. (2007). Developing the science of reintroduction biology. Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology, 21(2), 303–12. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00627.x