Abstract
Species Survival Plans and European Endangered Species Programmes have been developed for several species of endangered felids in order to build up captive reserve populations and support their conservation in the wild. The Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), snow leopard (Uncia uncia), cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) are managed in such ex situ conservation programmes. Many zoological institutions hand-rear offspring if rearing by the mother fails. Hand-rearing can cause behavioural problems, resulting in decreased copulation and lower breeding success in some species. In this study, studbook data subsets were examined: from 1901 to 2011; and 2000 to 2011. We analysed records from 4273 Siberian tigers, 2045 snow leopards, 3435 cheetahs, and 804 clouded leopards. We assessed the number of offspring produced, litter size, age at first reproduction, longevity, infant mortality and generational rearing of hand-reared versus parent-reared individuals. Hand-reared Siberian tigers (p<0.01; p = 0.0113), snow leopards (p<0.01), male cheetahs (p<0.01) and female clouded leopards (p<0.01) produced fewer offspring than parent-reared individuals. Hand-reared snow leopard breeding pairs had larger litters than parent-reared pairs (p = 0.0404). Hand-reared snow leopard females reproduced later in life (p<0.01). Hand-reared female Siberian tigers lived shorter lives, while hand-reared cheetahs lived longer (p<0.01; p = 0.0107). Infant mortality was higher in hand-reared snow leopards (p<0.01) and male cheetahs (p = 0.0395) in the 1901–2011 dataset and lower in hand-reared female Siberian tiger and male snow leopard cubs (p = 0.0404; p = 0.0349) in the 2000–2011 dataset. The rearing of the mother and subsequent rearing of offspring showed a significant relationship for all species (p<0.01 for Siberian tiger and snow leopard cubs; p<0.001 for cheetah and snow leopard cubs). Taking into account the limited carrying capacity of zoos, the results of this study highlight that careful consideration should be taken when deciding whether or not to hand-rear individuals that are part of Species Survival Plans and European Endangered Species Programmes.
Highlights
The survival of several large felid species with very small and highly threatened remnant populations in the wild may depend on managed captive reserve populations such as those coordinated in Species Survival Plans (SSPs) and European Endangered Species Programmes (EEPs)
The Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), snow leopard (Uncia uncia), cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) are primarily solitary cats that are threatened in the wild and have captive populations managed as SSPs and EEPs in North America and Europe, respectively [1]
We found a significant difference in generational rearing between hand-reared and parent-reared dams
Summary
The survival of several large felid species with very small and highly threatened remnant populations in the wild may depend on managed captive reserve populations such as those coordinated in Species Survival Plans (SSPs) and European Endangered Species Programmes (EEPs). The goal of SSPs and EEPs is to contribute to the conservation of species through cooperatively managed ex situ breeding programmes These programmes aim to form healthy, self-sustaining, genetically diverse populations of species in human care [1]. This includes research to inform management decisions and determine best breeding practices for a particular species. In such programmes, many participating institutions hand-rear individuals if parent-rearing fails or is not an option, which can lead to stereotypic or abnormal behaviours, failure to establish adequate sexual posturing for copulation, or lack of social-sexual behaviour entirely [2, 3]. Hand-rearing can potentially compromise the demographic and genetic management tactics utilized by these conservation plans to establish and maintain self-sustaining populations [4]
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