Conservation in the Anthropocene
Conservation in the anthropocene
We are facing a crisis of rapid biodiversity decline in the Anthropocene, which poses a high risk of ecosystem destabilization and eventual collapse. Despite the amount of conservation work already taking place, habitat fragmentation, climate change and invasive species are major threats.
On one hand, in-situ conservation strategies and solutions are essential and , arguably, the whole point and the end goal of conservation work in general. On the other, ex-situ conservation strategies have proven records which provide opportunities and experiences unable to be achieved purely with in-situ strategies.
Therefore ex-situ and in-situ strategies take great importance to tackle this situation. In order to increase the chances for stability and success, ex-situ and in-situ conservation strategies should work both individually and in concert.
If it were not for captive breeding/propagation at zoos and aquariums, there are a number of species that would no longer be alive today. To name some, the Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx), Scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah), Addax (Addax nasomaculatus), Dama gazelle (Nanger dama), Pere David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus), Przewalski’s horse (Equus przewalskii), Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes), California condor (Gymnogyps californianus), Mauritius pink pigeon (Nesoenas mayeri) and Socorro dove (Zenaida graysoni).
Though captive insurance populations are pivotal, they are essentially ineffective if you do not also actively preserve and protect wild populations and the ecosystems upon which they depend.
BICE believes that every wild animal and plant species, subspecies, and distinct population segment needs to have a captive insurance population when and where possible. We view effective conservation like a yin and yang symbol in that both ex-situ and in-situ conservation strategies serve different purposes and create different circumstances, they both have the same end goal.
