Difference between revisions of "Rewilding and carnivores"

Latest revision as of 10:45, 8 March 2011

For the rewilding of human animals, see Rewilding (anarchism)

It may be used to describe methods of protecting and restoring wilderness on a landscape scale as a means of preserving biodiversity. It may also be described as the process of returning species, habitats and landscapes to a natural state, as they would be without the intervention of humans, including the return of captive animals to the wild, and the Wikipedia:reintroduction of wild individuals from other parts of the range of the species.

Rewilding is predicated on a number of discoveries in biology in recent years, including research establishing the importance of predators and keystone species in ecosystems.^[1] Pioneering research conducted in marine environments by James Estes and in tropical terrestrial regions by John Terborgh has shown that apex predators exert powerful "top-down" regulatory effects throughout ecosystems. ^[2] Therefore, many rewilding projects include protecting and/or reintroducing top predators as a means of hypothetically restoring functional processes in an ecosystem.^[3]

A South China Tiger stalking a herd of Blesbucks in the grassland of Africa

Rewilding rejects or ignores means other than predators to rectify perceived imbalances in ecosystems.

Rewilding of Carnivores, refers to the process of zoo-born carnivores regaining their abilities to hunt and fend for themselves in natural conditions.

Origin[edit]

For the origins of the word "rewilding," see the main entry, Wikipedia:Rewilding (WP)

The word "rewilding" was coined by conservationist and ex-carnivore manager of Wikipedia:Pilanesberg National Park, Gus Van Dyk in 2003. Gus Van Dyk, who in an effort to find the most appropriate translation of the Chinese term “野化”, chose to adopt the term "rewilding" to describe Wikipedia:Save China's Tigers rewilding project of the Wikipedia:South China Tiger.^[4] Since then, the term "rewilding" has been widely used by Wikipedia:wildlife organisations worldwide.

The need to be rewilded[edit]

Not all animals have to be rewilded before being introduced back into the wild. As a general rule, captive Wikipedia:carnivores, unlike Wikipedia:herbivores, have to be rewilded before they can be released. This is because captive carnivore Wikipedia:species need to be rehabilitated and must regain their hunting instincts, in order to increase their chances of surviving before being released.^[5]

Reintroduction without rewilding is also possible if the animals involved are from the Wikipedia:wild and not captive-bred; this is also known as Wikipedia:relocation.^[6][7] In relocation, wild animals are often moved from a reserve to another reserve, either to enhance the Wikipedia:genetic diversity of the latter reserve or to reintroduce the species back into a reserve where that particular species had been exterminated entirely.^[8][9]

A predator’s behaviour depends on three factors: Wikipedia:instinct, individual learning, and Wikipedia:tradition.^[10] Therefore, predators in the wild learn everything, particularly how to hunt, from their mothers. However, captive-bred predators do not have such luxury; thus, there is a need to rewild them and let them regain their hunting abilities.^[5]

Reasons for rewilding[edit]

Rewilding can be classified as both ex-situ and in-situ conservation, as it involves the captive breeding and then the rehabilitating of the animal, thereby allowing it to regain its survival abilities before releasing it. So, captive breeding is also a key part of rewilding, because the captive population of a particular species is directly proportional to the number of individuals that can be sent to undergo rewilding training.

But the question is often raised, why not just conserve animals through in-situ conservation, by breeding them only in captivity? The reason is that a species is considered biologically extinct if it has died out in the wild, even if there are some individuals in captivity. It has lost its function in nature because it no longer exists in nature. Those remaining in captivity will have to mate among close relatives and will gradually lose their survival abilities. This will eventually lead to the final extinction of the entire species; hence, rewilding is a necessary step to save critically endangered species from extinction.^[11]

First official rewilding project and experiment[edit]

Main article: Wikipedia:Save China's Tigers

The first official rewilding project was the Save China's Tigers rewilding project. Save China's Tigers aims to rewild the critically endangered Wikipedia:South China Tiger by bringing a few captive-bred individuals to South Africa for rehabilitation training, to help them regain their hunting instincts. At the same time, a pilot reserve in China is being set up, and the Tigers will be relocated and released back into China when the reserve there is ready.^[11] The South China tiger has been listed as one of the world's 10 most endangered animals,^[12] and it was later declared extinct in the wild in 2002.^[13]

The reason South Africa was chosen is that it is able to provide expertise, resources, land, and game for the South China tigers. The Wikipedia:South China Tigers of the project have since been successfully rewilded and are fully capable of hunting and surviving on their own.^[11] This project is also very successful in the breeding of these rewilded South China Tigers: five cubs have been born. These second-generation cubs will be able to directly learn their survival skills from their successfully rewilded mothers.^[14]

It is hoped that in 2010, the Chinese year of the Tiger, the first batch of rewilded South China Tigers can be sent back to China from South Africa, and be released into the wild.^[15] However, this has since been delayed due to the delay caused in China in establishing the pilot reserve.

Success story[edit]

A rewilded South China Tiger of the Save China's Tigers rewilding project hunting Wikipedia:blesbuck

South China Tiger rewilding and reintroduction project has been deemed a success. Recently, renown scientists have confirmed the role of Rewilding captive populations to save the South China Tiger. A rewilding workshop conducted in the October of 2010, in Laohu Valley reserve, South Africa (WP) to access the progress of the rewilding and reintroduction program of Save China's Tigers. The experts present includes Dr. Peter Crawshaw of Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservacão de Mamiferos Carnivoros, Cenap/ICMBIO, Dr. Gary Koehler, Dr. Laurie Marker of Cheetah Conservation Fund, Dr. Jim Sanderson of Small Wild Cat Conservation Foundation, Dr. Nobuyuki Yamaguchi of Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences of Qatar University, and Dr. David Smith of Wikipedia:Minnesota University, Chinese government scientists as well as representatives of Save China's Tigers.

The tigers involved, were born in Wikipedia:captive conditions, in concrete cages and their parents are all captive animals who are unable to sustain in the wild. They were sent to South Africa as part of the Save China's Tigers project to rewilding and ensure that they regain the neccessary skills needed for a predator to survive in the wild.

Results of the workshop confirmed the important role of the South China Tiger Rewilding Project in tiger conservation. ““Having seen the tigers hunting in an open environment at Laohu Valley Reserve, I believe that these rewilded tigers have the skill to hunt in any environment.” Dr. David Smith remarked. Furthermore, Save China's Tigers recovered natural habitat both in China and in South Africa during their attempt to reintroduce Wikipedia:South China Tigers back into the wild.^[16]

The goal is of preparing tigers born in captivity for introduction to wild habitat in China where tigers once lived seems to be very possible in the near future based on the success of the rewilding and reintroduction program.^[17]

Origins, History, and Examples[edit]

Examples of species reintroductions aimed at restoring ecosystem functionality include the 1995 reintroduction of the gray wolf to Yellowstone National Park. For the main article, see Wikipedia:Wolf reintroduction. The captive-breeding and reintroduction, in 1991, of the critically-endangered black-footed ferret is another such project, designed to save North America's most endangered mammal from extinction while restoring its prairie grassland habitat across the Great Plains.^[18] Such projects have faced intense opposition from livestock producers who have lobbied the federal government in the United States to place limits on reintroduction efforts.^[19]

In addition to these North American projects, there are a number of reintroductions ongoing in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe. Beaver (a keystone species) and moose (an important prey species) are in the process of being reintroduced in Scotland, and a controversial debate over the potential return of the wolf continues in that country.^[20] Extirpated from Switzerland in 1915, the Eurasian lynx was reintroduced there in 1971. See more about reintroductions of that species at the main entry for Wikipedia:Eurasian Lynx. A comprehensive list of reintroductions in the U.K., including formerly-extirpated birds (White-Tailed Eagle, Osprey, Black Grouse) and insects (including the Large Blue Butterfly and the Heath Fritillary), can be found at the main entry, Wikipedia:Reintroduction.

Additional challenges facing reintroduction projects are illustrated by the controversial 2008 relocation of tigers to India's Sariska Tiger Reserve, after news broke in 2005 that poachers had decimated the population in that park. The first tiger translocated to the reserve died within a few months, under circumstances that have remained unclear.^[21] Conservationists feared that the reintroduction was premature, given the reserve's ecological degradation, the hostility of neighboring communities, and India's poor record of controlling poaching in certain parks.^[22]

Another project, Save China's Tigers, aims to reintroduce the critically endangered Indochinese Tiger, or Wikipedia:South China Tiger, by reinvigorating the hunting instincts of captive-bred individuals held at a private reserve in South Africa. Plans for a pilot reserve in China are being formulated, and the project hopes to relocate its tigers to China once the reserve has been established.^[23]

A rewilding workshop conducted in October 2010 in South Africa's Laohu Valley reserve assessed the progress of the program. Experts included Dr. Peter Crawshaw of Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservacão de Mamiferos Carnivoros, Cenap/ICMBIO, Dr. Gary Koehler, Dr. Laurie Marker of Cheetah Conservation Fund, Dr. Jim Sanderson of Small Wild Cat Conservation Foundation, Dr. Nobuyuki Yamaguchi of Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences of Qatar University, and Dr. David Smith of Wikipedia:Minnesota University, as well as Chinese government scientists. “Having seen the tigers hunting in an open environment at Laohu Valley Reserve, I believe that these rewilded tigers have the skill to hunt in any environment,” Dr. David Smith remarked. ^[24]

Caveats[edit]

Tigers are so rare that any arguments against their introduction, anywhere, would seem to be counterproductive. But for other species, these arguments remain unanswered:

Little or no research has been done to determine means other than predators to rectify perceived imbalances in ecosystems. At worst, there is no indication that there is not a default mindset of Wikipedia:Appeal to nature in operation in the assumption that predators are the best means of restoring balance. Appeal to nature is here used in the sense of normative bias, or even its Social Darwinism side.

References[edit]

External links[edit]