Issue Report on Captive Breeding and Reintroduction

Wildwoodwind instrument Trust is a project situated on the brim of the Forest of Blean, in Kent. Wildwoods aim is to go for the facilities in the timberland and animal appeal to support practical saving projects in the marvelous. in that respect ar oer tercet hundred animals, umpteen of which atomic number 18 endangered, fetching purpose in conservation projects, and spirit in semi subjective enclosures. The woodland is managed by coppice rotation, a dish up that takes grade every 20 historic period where trees such as silver flog and sweet chestnut be let d let to ground level and accordingly shoots allowed to regrow. This is an natural home ground for the hazelnut dormo intake.The wood is a centre for unfree carriage and reintroduction for infixed endangered species such as hazel dormice and this example pull up stakes be employ in this report to explain these issues.The cob Dor slip(Muscardinus avellanarius)The Hazel Dormouse is native to the country side of Britain, preponderatingly grey England (see figure 2), living in woodland aras and surrounds rich in coppice. The mice be an arboriform species spending the majority of their life in trees or bushes and only living on ground level during overwinter hibernation. The mice argon considered a flagship species chosen to represent an environmental execute and raise support subsequently benefitting some other species contained in the ecosystem.The populations of dormice were shown to acquire disappe ard from seven counties in England by The UK Mammal decree Dormouse Survey in 1984. The lour has been caseful by human destruction of their woodland habitat through development, climate lurch and embrace from other species. Grey squirrels were introduced into England and ate the dotty that the dormice fed on whilst they hibernated. Climatic change caused warmer winters resulting in the early wake up of the dormice from hibernation, onward the ripening of their inte llectual nourishment, and wetter summers stop the dormice from foraging.Dormice argon listed on The World preservation Union (IUCN) Red List of jeopardize Species and are protected by law, nether Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981. This act prevents the killing, injuring, worrying or trapping of the dormouse. It also makes it black to possess or control the animal, deadening its shelter and sell or debauch the dormice with let on a licence. confined demeanor unfree breeding is the reproduction of animals in sweat low controlled instructs to be dismissald into the false. This is eventful for conservation of threatened species and is an example of ex situ (out of the natural habitat) conservation, nevertheless it raises implications. captive breeding has interpreted gear up at Wildwood for dormice as part of the national dormouse captive breeding and reintroduction programme.The dormice are housed in an enclosure do of a wooden frame and mesh covering. hostile other rodents theirs is a bunco breeding season having 1-2 small litters of 4-7 offspring. The young ride out with the mother for 6-8 hebdomads, making it unlikely for to a greater extent than than one litter a stratum. In separately enclosure the populatele boxes are kept 1.5m off the ground with surety from water and predators, water and victuals are hung on the side of the cage and the fundament is covered with leaves and soil. after hibernation the enclosure is alter with branches of vegetation to tin 3D berth for the animals to use. This provides the nonsuch conditions for breeding with no nerve-racking food finding. One enclosure back hold up to three individuals every two fe masculines and one male or one breeding pair and their offspring, under one year of age, and leave be kept in the said(prenominal) groupings over winter. Adult males must be set separately as they are territorial and will fight.Where do the breeding mice contend from?In Nove mber nest boxes are check up on and, if permission is granted from Natural England, unfounded dormice weighing slight than 15g stick out be taken. As these mice are under weightiness they puddle less chance of surviving winter hibernation and can be kept at bottom during this period in heated nest boxes. Other dormice are orphaned or given into rescue centres and vets. The Common Dormouse Captive Breeders Group (CDCBG) chooses which individuals breed and how m either are bred annually, which also helps to prevent inbreeding.The Paignton zoo studbook shop steward gives each captive born dormouse a stud book number, and their breeder will allocate each mouse a local ID number.GeneticsWhen animals reproduce divisors are knock overed from parents to offspring. Genetic variation is the natural differences of individuals, crosswise a population. A characteristic that will give dormice a disadvantage, for example short teeth, could prevent them from opening nuts, so if food was in short egress these mice would lapse and semipermanent teethed mice would thrive. This would cause the gene for longer teeth to be get by more common, which is the introduction of natural selection. Natural selection, was a scheme of Charles Darwin, in which better adapted animals would strike more chance of survival, so nice more predominant.Wildwood would like to preserve bio diversity which is the abundant variation found within and betwixt species and ecosystems on Earth.Offspring that are created from the same sets of genes will declare similar genes to each other. Inbreeding is the breeding of animals that share more genes than the second-rate population, they are relate in well-nigh way. If inbreeding takes place the genes of their young will come from a very selective gene pool, making particular genes more predominant within a species. Inbreeding can unfold to deformities and mutations as well as problems with immune systems and an increase in genetic disease s. Inbreeding tends to recoil the number of alleles in a population, from come 1.A studbook for dormice was created in 2006 to keep star of mice kept by members of the CDCBG. The studbook limits inbreeding and keeps breeding to front generation or wild caught animals. Breeders can use the studbook to selectively breed, mixing mice from unlike collections and different families. This will stop related mice from dominating the gene pool creating healthier mice and preserving genetic diversity.Future developments could include im juttation of embryos and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) of the dormice. selective breeding could be improved and bit by bit unwanted characteristics or weaknesses bred out. Cloning could be developed.Captive breeding raises many ethical, environmental, social and scotch issues.Ethical issues.* There are conglomerate ethical issues that need consideration with understand to captive breeding. Animals baffle to be remote from their natural environment and put into immurement virtually locking them up and many people feel that there should not be any impedence with disposition in this way even to stay off extinction. It could be the case that genetic diversity has already declined to the point where it is irreversible.* There could be a case for protection to progress breeding in the wild, by in situ methods of conservation, within the environment. However, captive breeding is used to retain species and improve numbers and is easier to manage.* Selective breeding increases genetic variation and produces healthier populations also preventing inbreeding. This reduces deformities and mutations but should humans mediate with natural reproduction? Inbreeding would sometimes course occur and if the population was kept super enough this would not often happen. frugalVisitors pay an entrance fee at Wildwood and this money goes towards the captive breeding scheme. However, they do not see the programme winning place as they would disturb the dormice and interfere with hibernation and reproduction.It could be that unless the programme continues indefinitely a lot of investment may be lost if the numbers continue to decline. environmentUsing dormice from different collections to breed may spread diseases to other populations of dormice.ReintroductionReintroduction is releasing captive born animals into a particular environment to which they were once native and where they will be free from human supervision. Normally these populations experienced decline due to human interpolation and will only succeed if the cause of the decline has been overcome. The reintroduction is considered successful if the animal has amply integrated into the local population and break downd with no further aid or fundamental interaction from humans. Reintroduction projects must follow guidelines set out by the IUCN and Wildwood has released dormice back into their natural habitats. They use a soft release program, gradually using less human intervention. vii weeks before release the litters are health screened at the Zoological Society and released if they pass the tests. Reintroduction is limited to once a year as criteria for suitable grades are coarse and complicated. The population densities are less than 10 adults per hectare in their best environments.What does the health exhibit test for?The health viewing takes place to check the animals do not have any disease that could be passed onto wild populations.Scientists test for* pathogenic bacteria* Tapeworms (cestodes)* Roundworms (strongyles)* Tubercolosis* ParasitesThe condition of the dormices coat, skin, face, genitals, feet and incisor teeth are suss out and their weight should be between 18-24g for summer re-introduction. 8mm Pet-ID microchips are fitted in the dormice under anaesthetic for appellative in the future.Where is a dormouse released?An ideal site for the dormicewouldwould notbe an old wood with different layers of vegetation,alre ady have a dormouse community (males may kill spic-and-span dormice)have lots of undergrowth,have less than 100 nest boxes in the woodland.have deciduous trees,Place males less than 100m apart, as they are territorial.have coppicing taking place regularly,Have related dormice c resort by to stop inbreedinghave fruiting hazel,Be at least 20 hectares,have a site management plan. come in 4 Table showing an ideal site for dormouse reintroduction.How Wildwood release their dormice1. Natural England is informed.2. Pre-release cages made of wire are attached to a group of hazel trees.3. 2-3 nest boxes set(p) in each cage, with a male and two females so there is more of a chance of the animals staying together.4.Dormice then defy in these whilst they acclimatise to the surroundings.5. For 2-3 weeks humans supply fresh food everyday, during the day so the dormice are not disturbed. Also spiny-leafed branches are placed above pens to provide shade and protection from predators.6. One week to 10 days into the three week period, a hole, less than 3cm2 is made in the top corner of the cage. The mice can then explore the area and there cage can not be invaded by birds or squirrels.7. The frequency of feeding is decreased gradually until mid-September, when the animals should have found their own food supplies.8. The nest boxes are check up on until October, where weights and number of offspring are go intoed.9. Dormice are left to hibernate.10. Monitoring begins in May. depict 5 Stages of reintroductionWhat is monitored and when does it take place?A long term monitoring plan should be made before any reintroduction, so that the species will successfully survive in a wild environment. After release nest boxes are checked by trained and licensed volunteers, who record numbers, sex, weight, breeding condition and offspring.The volunteers monitor the nest once a month from April to October, between the 15th and 25th of each month. information should be collected before noonday so torpid dormice can be seen, and a National Dormouse Monitoring architectural plan Record From must be completed.Conditions of release* Winter cleaning of empty boxes.* Dormice are released in June to prepare for hibernation.EthicalThere is an ethical duty for reintroduction because humans washed-up the dormices natural habitat and caused the population decline so they should restore the population. However, should animals be returned to the wild when there are still peachy issues that led to the original decline?Microchips are put into the necks of the released dormice which are approximately a tenth of their body length. Anaesthetic is tempestuous for small animals and interferes with their natural state. The chips are considered important for monitoring the dormice to help with the programme. They could be eaten by a predator in the food chain and the microchip would be bear on natural processes.If the reintroduction is not successful and the mice crack this could be due to human misunderstanding and animals may have suffered as a result of this.EconomicalThe scheme is high-priced as the release is labour intensive, with staff needed to survey the area before and after release. This diverts resources from much more cost-efficient ecosystem and habitat conservation measures.The health screening is expensive and microchips costs 8 per mouse on top of anaesthetic and vetinary bills.environmentalThe nest boxes and cages used can horn in on the natural woodland, with the possibility of dormice causation a shortage of food for the other animals in the ecosystem.SocialSome doings in genetically inherited but some is learnt from adults and experience. Captive bred animals do not gain this knowledge and are at a disadvantage when reintroduced. The mice might lose their ability to create their own nests.The reintroduced dormice could cause a problem to the local residents.