Understanding Studbooks in Population Management

– Collaboration: Member zoos provide data for a database, which is then submitted to Species360 for publication as a studbook – Studbooks serve research purposes and provide information for population management – Database management: Species360 manages the ZIMS (Zoological Information Management System) module, which includes communication tools for 16 languages – Population management: European Ex-Situ Programme (EEP) aims to maximize genetic diversity, maintain demographic stability, and provide animals for reintroduction (if suitable) – EEP: A regional intensive population management programme with over 400 programmes, coordinated by an EEP coordinator and a Species Committee – Captive breeding: Three stages: founder phase, growth phase, and capacity phase – Founder phase: Challenges include acquiring wild population representation, limited numbers, and diversity loss due to collecting from a narrow range and few founders – Growth phase: Minimizing the loss of founder alleles and maximizing the number of offspring – Capacity phase: The ultimate goal is to consider reintroduction when a sufficient population size is reached

– Genetic management: Two main challenges include genetic adaptation to captivity and genetic drift – Genetic adaptation to captivity: Selection eliminates maladaptive alleles present in the captive environment – Genetic drift: Loss of both adaptive and maladaptive alleles occurs by chance in small populations – Captive breeding: Selections will eliminate maladaptive alleles in the captive environment, and genetic drift will cause the cumulative loss of both adaptive and maladaptive alleles

– Founder phase: Acquiring wild population representation, challenges include small numbers, limited areas, and few founders – Genetic diversity loss: Collecting animals from a smaller, limited area results in a reduced gene pool; fewer founders and not all wild-caught animals reproducing further contribute to the loss – Growth phase: Minimizing the loss of founder alleles and maximizing the number of offspring – Loss of founder alleles: Not all founders produce equal progeny, and not enough offspring per founder hinders the retention of founder alleles – Captive breeding growth: Growth may be slow, making it difficult to fill available space with new offspring and salvage genetic diversity before losses occur – Capacity phase: A sufficient population size is required to consider reintroduction – Genetic diversity: 20 unrelated founders yield 97.5% of gene diversity in a wild population, but reality often involves smaller numbers and limited areas, leading to a loss of genetic diversity.