Many-ringed
coral snake, Micrurus diastema. Image courtesy
S. Turvey
One
of the more unfortunate tasks in wildlife conservation is the necessity
of re-introducing captive and wild-born confiscated species into their
original habitats after they have become extinct in the wild. Such
a strategy is the long-term aim of the keepers of the captive populations
of Tahitian Partulid snails for example.
Although an important component of many species conservation strategies
it needs to be done with the fullest consideration of the potential
pit-falls. For example, it has only recently been appreciated that
captive animals targeted for rehabilitation often possess diseases
for which their wild counterparts possess no immunity. Therefore,
without more research the consequences of re-introducing wildlife
could potentially be catastrophic.
Certain
primate species are under serious consideration for well-meant re-introduction
programmes in South America but there is an urgent need to assess
the incidence of diseases such as Hepatitis-B in wild populations
before this is done. Recent evidence indicates that the majority of
captive woolly monkeys (Lagothrix lagothricha) possess this
disease but its incidence in wild populations has never been tested.
This essential information can be obtained by collecting samples of
the animal’s faeces in the wild (there is no need to disturb
or capture them!) and then testing the droppings for viral and bacterial
DNA in specialised laboratories. We can do this comparatively cheaply
and very effectively and the outcome of our work may be the difference
between a successful operation and a complete ecological disaster.
The
following tale underlines the seriousness of this largely unaddressed
issue. Captively bred golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia)
were going to be released into the wild in order to increase the numbers
of the last wild population situated in southeast Brazil. At the last
moment a potentially fatal viral infection was detected in the captive
stock. Were this project to have gone ahead the wild population would
have rapidly succumbed to the disease and gone extinct!
