Despite efforts by conservationists and researchers all species may not bounce back in the wild. Ex situ conservation techniques have become a necessity to save some critically endangered species, whereas for others it is a preventative measure. Captive breeding programs are thus becoming more prevalent through the years. In most cases, conservation breeding is undertaken by zoological parks but some species have specific breeding centres as well.
These breeding programs should ideally ensure the well-being of the animals in terms of their nutrition, safety, health, behaviour and so on. Ensuring these standards for different species based on their needs is quite the challenge. Adequate research about the behaviour of these animals in the wild is required to ensure their well-being at breeding centres. Another key aspect of these conservation breeding programs is to prepare the animals to be released into the wild.
This requires an entirely different set of regulations. The most important aspect is to establish better habitats for these species. Conservation breeding to re-establish the population of species would render entirely useless if they do not have enough habitat. Releasing them in large numbers without adequate habitat space more often than not will lead to human wildlife conflicts causing destructive results for everyone.
So, let us look at some species for which conservation breeding programs have been established in India, and the progress made by them.
Great Indian Bustards
Great Indian Bustards are a critically endangered species with less than 100 individuals remaining in the wild. With the current population and low hatching success of the eggs laid in the wild due to predation pressures the species is at risk of extinction. Wildlife Institute of India and the Rajasthan Forest Department have worked together and set up a conservation breeding centre for Great Indian Bustards. The centres are located at Sam and Ramdevra and have been operational since 2019.
Different enclosures have been constructed for the birds and are housed in them according to their age. The decisions regarding dimensions of the enclosures and the training of the technicians at the centre has been with the help of the International Fund for Houbara Bustards (IFHC) who have had great success with breeding Houbara Bustards in Abu Dhabi.
The process of operating the centre involves the collection of eggs from the wild after searching for the nest sites. Post egg collection the temperatures are regulated by placing the eggs in incubators. The centre has had a lot of success with the hatching rates. In the year 2020, 9 out of 10 eggs hatched at the centre and one was infertile. The birds are fed an omnivorous diet including dry pellets, alfalfa leaves, mealworms, crickets, and mice. The live feed is maintained at the breeding centre itself. The birds during chick stage are massaged before every feeding to maintain a human imprint. Until now, 24 birds have been raised successfully at the centre.
Lesser Florican
Lesser Florican is the smallest bustard species and is also critically endangered according to the IUCN red list. They are particularly known for their avian display during the breeding season. The biggest threat for this species is habitat loss. They prefer to be in grasslands with good cover, but the reduction in this habitat leads them to reside in crop fields.
Wildlife Institute of India has started a conservation breeding centre for the Lesser Florican in Ajmer, and is a relatively new project. They also follow a similar process as the Great Indian Bustard Conservation Centre. Eggs are collected from the wild and placed in incubators. They are also fed pellets, alfalfa, mealworms, crickets.
Gyps Vultures
There are five species of vultures in India that belong to the genus Gyps. Out of these 2 are wintering species – Eurasian Griffon (Gyps fulvus) and Himalayan
Griffon (Gyps himalayensis). The other three are residents – White-backed, Long-billed, and Slender-billed vultures. These three species that were once abundant, faced a rapid decline in population and are now critically endangered. The reason for their decline has been identified to be the usage of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug – diclofenac, which was often used as a pain relief drug for cattle. Vultures, being scavengers that feed on the cattle carcasses, are highly affected by this drug. In 2006, the use of diclofenac was banned to prevent further decline of vulture populations.
Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) along with the Haryana Forest Department setup the first Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre at Pinjore in 2004 followed by other centres at Rajabhatkhawa in West Bengal, and Rani in Assam.
After 10 years of the centre, the Central Zoo Authority funded five zoos to be turned into Vulture Breeding Centres. These are
- Sakkarbaug Zoological Park, Gujarat
- Nandankanan Zoological Park, Odisha
- Van Vihar National Park and Zoo, Madhya Pradesh
- Nehru Zoological Park, Andhra Pradesh
For each of these centres the vultures are captured during their nestling or juvenile
Age, after receiving clearance from the Chief Wildlife Warden and are taken and the vultures are transported to the centre. The vultures are fed goat meat, 2 days a week. This is because vultures retain food in the crop at each feeding and do not feed for the next few days. Goat meat is fed up to 5% of the bird’s body weight during each feeding. Goat meat is preferred as they retain diclofenac in their body for about 3 days. The goats are quarantined for 10 days before feeding.
Vultures have long incubation periods and only lay one egg a year. Despite these conditions these centres have artificially hatched around 345 vultures and have released over 600 vultures back into the wild.
Black Softshell Turtles
According to an IUCN report in 2002, Black Softshell Turtles were considered extinct in the wild. However, these turtles have been found in the Hoji temple’s pond, Assam. This was due to a custom of offering turtles to please one of Lord Vishnu’s incarnations – ‘Kurma avatar’ or the Tortoise. Herpetologist Jayaditya Purkayastha has been working towards releasing the turtles in the wild and increasing their population.
In order to do so, the land around the pond at the temple was filled with silt as it is in a natural river system. This led to recovery of greater egg ratio. These eggs are collected and brought to the state zoo for hatching. After 6 months of rearing the hatchlings in captivity and ensuring good health conditions, they are released into the wild. Since 2016, more than 300 of these turtles have been released into the wild.
Greater One Horned Rhino
The Greater One – Horned Rhinoceros are mainly found in Kaziranga National Park, Assam, and Nepal. A few individuals are also found in Bihar and West Bengal. According to the latest IUCN assessment of this species, they are considered vulnerable due to excessive threats from poaching for their horns.
Since the 1960s, the Assam State Zoo has been breeding rhinos in captivity. However, it wasn’t until 2011 that an official Conservation Breeding Program was launched by the Central Zoo Authority for the Greater One – Horned Rhinoceros. The Assam Zoo plays the lead role in this program while coordinating with the Patna Zoo as well. The launch of the program has created a more organised process for breeding these rhinos. In zoos, the constant presence of visitors often causes stressful situations for the rhinos making breeding difficult and risky for the health of the animals.
Thus, separate enclosures away from the visitors have been created to ensure the comfort of the animals. Since, the gestation period for rhinos is almost 1 and half years, captive breeding is quite challenging. Within 2 years of the program, the Patna Zoo saw its first female rhino birth in captivity.
In the next few months, a male calf was born in the Assam Zoo. The program is ongoing, but has seen some challenges. There have been cases of injuries due to aggression between the animals, stillbirths, or deaths soon after the birth of a calf. These challenges have led to more careful decisions about which rhinos are placed in each other’s company. At present there are about 13 rhinos in the Patna Zoo and 8 in the Assam Zoo.
Western Tragopan
Western Tragopans are a rare pheasant bird known for their colourful plumage. They are Vulnerable according to the IUCN Red list and their population is largely decreasing. Major threats faced by this species include habitat degradation and fragmentation, hunting and poaching.
The Central Zoo Authority approved a Conservation Breeding Program for the Western Tragopan in 2003. This centre is located at Sarahan in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. The birds are fed a mix of vegetative matter including fruits, vegetables, sprouts, hard boiled eggs, other greens and seed mix. These birds are elevated nesters, thus, nests are created with dried moss and fern and placed within the enclosures. In 2010, the centre had many issues as the birds suffered from e-coli infections.
There were 19 birds at the centre, 10 male and 9 female. 17 eggs had been laid in the season out of which only 1 hatched, and the chick died within a week. Even in 2009, out of 23 fertilised eggs only 2 survived. Due to these health issues 2011 was declared a zero-breeding year for the Western Tragopan. The centre was criticised for poor hygienic conditions and mismanagement.
Despite these challenges by the year 2018, the population of birds at the breeding centre bounced back as 9 chicks were born. By 2020, the centre had 45 birds and 6 birds (4 adults and 2 chicks) were released into the wild, at the Daranghati Wildlife Sanctuary. The birds have been radio tagged to understand their habitat range, and behaviour in different climatic conditions.
Conclusion
Overall, zoos are playing a major role in acting as breeding centres for species that are at risk of extinction and environmental organisations are taking up research activities to understand more about these species and their behaviours for creating successful breeding programs. One could argue that these animals should not be held captive if looked at from an individual animal’s point of view. However, if we think about a species and its population as a whole and conservation measures we can take for the same, conservation breeding could be a good option.
This is only as long as the captive animals’ well being is ensured by trained personnel at these breeding centres. It is also undeniable that when we are working with animals that we are still learning about in many ways, certain illnesses and deaths are unavoidable. The important aspect is that we must learn better ways to care for various species as we are in many ways responsible for the threats that they face. In the future, the most ideal situation would be that no species are driven so close to extinction that we have to take them out of their habitats to reignite their population.
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Written by: Adithi Raghunath