programme brought the best result with respect to the possibilities and the aim, and
thus was absolutely successful.
Karlsdottir (2018) published “General guidelines for managers and supporters of
amphibian captive breeding programmes”. This shows how the knowledge in this
area has grown since the time of the first captive breeding programmes.
The story about the survival of the Pink Pigeon (Nesoenas mayeri) of Mauritius is
another success story. This rescue story is connected with the name Gerald Durrell,
who initiated the first captive breeding programme. This species had declined to
c. 10 individuals in the 1970s. Today the population in the wild is fluctuating around
400 individuals (https://www.durrell.org/wildlife/species-index/pink-pigeon;
accessed 3/2019), and there are other examples of successful captive breeding and
subsequent release into the wild of several bird, amphibian, reptile and mammal
species. Meanwhile, many zoos in the world are involved in conservation breeding
programmes and botanical gardens grow rare and threatened plant species. However,
these measures have a strong focus on vertebrates and vascular plants and members
of other taxonomic groups are still the exception.
Clearly, the goal of such measures in most cases is species conservation without
any interest in economic profit. The application of these programmes costs a lot of
money and is often conducted or supported by NGOs and private initiatives.
It is an open question if these programmes could and should be enhanced and
expanded by increasing their budget, for example through crowdfunding campaigns,
support by political authorities or simply by selling pets that are not available in
normal markets. Like for medicine that is only available in pharmacies, these special
and certified pets and plants might be sold only by zoos and botanical gardens.
3.12 De-Extinction
Would it be a good idea to recreate the extinct Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus
primigenius) from still existing genetic material by scientific means? This animal
was still alive during the early Holocene, and overkill by hunting was the main
reason for its extinction. However, even the best dead individuals preserved in
permafrost don’t have enough intact genetic material to guide the production of an
embryo that could develop in a female elephant (Shapiro 2015).
Selective breeding, cloning and genome editing are the methods that are used and
developed to recreate extinct species. It is already possible to sequence and assemble
genomes from tissues of animals even if no well-preserved individual exists (Shapiro
2016).
However, to date has not been possible to resurrect any extinct mammal, bird or
reptile from still existing genetic material. Thus, there is hope on the one hand and
strong ethical arguments against this approach on the other (Kouba et al. 2013;
Sandler 2014; O’Connor 2015; Robert et al. 2017). Imagine that the Eurasian
mammoth, the thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) from Australia and New
Guinea, or the dodo (Raphus cucullatus) from Mauritius would be resurrected within
Environmental Indicators and Biodiversity Conservation Strategies
175
thus was absolutely successful.
Karlsdottir (2018) published “General guidelines for managers and supporters of
amphibian captive breeding programmes”. This shows how the knowledge in this
area has grown since the time of the first captive breeding programmes.
The story about the survival of the Pink Pigeon (Nesoenas mayeri) of Mauritius is
another success story. This rescue story is connected with the name Gerald Durrell,
who initiated the first captive breeding programme. This species had declined to
c. 10 individuals in the 1970s. Today the population in the wild is fluctuating around
400 individuals (https://www.durrell.org/wildlife/species-index/pink-pigeon;
accessed 3/2019), and there are other examples of successful captive breeding and
subsequent release into the wild of several bird, amphibian, reptile and mammal
species. Meanwhile, many zoos in the world are involved in conservation breeding
programmes and botanical gardens grow rare and threatened plant species. However,
these measures have a strong focus on vertebrates and vascular plants and members
of other taxonomic groups are still the exception.
Clearly, the goal of such measures in most cases is species conservation without
any interest in economic profit. The application of these programmes costs a lot of
money and is often conducted or supported by NGOs and private initiatives.
It is an open question if these programmes could and should be enhanced and
expanded by increasing their budget, for example through crowdfunding campaigns,
support by political authorities or simply by selling pets that are not available in
normal markets. Like for medicine that is only available in pharmacies, these special
and certified pets and plants might be sold only by zoos and botanical gardens.
3.12 De-Extinction
Would it be a good idea to recreate the extinct Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus
primigenius) from still existing genetic material by scientific means? This animal
was still alive during the early Holocene, and overkill by hunting was the main
reason for its extinction. However, even the best dead individuals preserved in
permafrost don’t have enough intact genetic material to guide the production of an
embryo that could develop in a female elephant (Shapiro 2015).
Selective breeding, cloning and genome editing are the methods that are used and
developed to recreate extinct species. It is already possible to sequence and assemble
genomes from tissues of animals even if no well-preserved individual exists (Shapiro
2016).
However, to date has not been possible to resurrect any extinct mammal, bird or
reptile from still existing genetic material. Thus, there is hope on the one hand and
strong ethical arguments against this approach on the other (Kouba et al. 2013;
Sandler 2014; O’Connor 2015; Robert et al. 2017). Imagine that the Eurasian
mammoth, the thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) from Australia and New
Guinea, or the dodo (Raphus cucullatus) from Mauritius would be resurrected within
Environmental Indicators and Biodiversity Conservation Strategies
175