Page 23 - Eclipse - Autumn/Winter 2022

RESEARCH NEWS

Health considerations

in wildlife reintroduction projects

A team of researchers, including Katie Beckmann, an RVC PhD student, have conducted
a study into the health outcomes in wildlife reintroduction projects.

onservation translocations The resulting paper, published in The health of translocated wildlife can
as they are formally termed the journal Ecological Solutions and be impacted not just by disease but
are defined as population Evidence, summarises information about also these other biological problems,
Creinforcement, reintroduction, disease and other biological problems which may cause, for example, traumatic
assisted colonisation or ecological reported in case studies of animal injury or undernourishment. The
replacement. They have become a and plant conservation translocation paper reveals the full range of health
widespread tool as part of efforts published in the IUCN/SSC’s ‘Global conditions potentially associated with
to restore wildlife populations and Reintroduction Perspectives’ series. conservation translocations, which
their wider ecosystems and have Disease problems, including infection, can influence conservation and animal
been vital in aiding the recovery of stress and husbandry-related disorders welfare outcomes.
various endangered animal and plant were described as a ‘major difficulty’, The paper considers how health is
populations, growing in popularity in ‘major lesson learned’ or ‘reason for… closely linked to other ecological
recent decades. This trend is unlikely failure’ in 30 per cent of the 295 case and environmental issues, as well as
to change, particularly in light of current studies. They were significantly more likely translocation strategy and management.
biodiversity declines and pressures many to be mentioned in projects with poorer The work of the whole translocation
species face from climate change.
‘success’ ratings, suggesting that, when team therefore influences the health of
Conservation translocations are present, disease may be an important translocated – and released – animals
challenging to undertake, expensive and obstacle to translocation success. and plants.
time-consuming – and without guarantee Two-thirds of the case studies The full paper, and accompanying data
that positive outcomes will be achieved. mentioned another type of biological article, can be accessed from Ecological
This new research reviewed reports problem under one of these same Solutions and Evidence – besjournals.
of previous projects and builds the subheadings, particularly post-release onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/
evidence base to learn from and inform predation, adverse climate/weather full/10.1002/2688-8319.12164
future thinking and decision-making or anthropogenic trauma. Even ‘highly
when planning new initiatives.
successful’ case studies commonly
described those problems.

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