Issue Report on Captive Breeding and Reintroduction

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Target Audience: AS level Biology students.

Purpose: for gaining a better understanding of the concepts of captive breeding and reintroduction.

First biological issue (Major): Captive Breeding (including genetics and inbreeding) Pg1-3

Second biological issue (Minor): Reintroduction (inc. Hibernation as a biological process) Pg3-5

Word count: 1955 excluding figures and bibliography.

Wildwood

Wildwood Trust is a project situated on the edge of the Forest of Blean, in Kent. Wildwood’s aim is to use the facilities in the woodland and animal collection to ‘support practical conservation projects in the wild.’ There are over three hundred animals, many of which are endangered, taking part in conservation projects, and living in semi natural enclosures. The woodland is managed by coppice rotation, a process that takes place every 20 years where trees such as silver birch and sweet chestnut are cut to ground level and then shoots allowed to regrow. This is an essential habitat for the hazel dormouse.

        The wood is a centre for captive breeding and reintroduction for native endangered species such as hazel dormice and this example will be used in this report to explain these issues.

 

The Hazel Dormouse

(Muscardinus avellanarius)

        The Hazel Dormouse is native to the countryside of Britain, predominantly southern England (see figure 2), living in woodland areas and environments rich in coppice. The mice are an arboreal species; spending the majority of their life in trees or bushes and only living on ground level during winter hibernation. The mice are considered a ‘flagship species’ chosen to represent an environmental cause and raise support subsequently benefitting other species contained in the ecosystem.

The populations of dormice were shown to have disappeared from seven counties in England by The UK Mammal Society Dormouse Survey in 1984. The decline has been caused by human destruction of their woodland habitat through development, climate change and pressure from other species. Grey squirrels were introduced into England and ate the nuts that the dormice fed on whilst they hibernated. Climatic change caused warmer winters resulting in the early awakening of the dormice from hibernation, before the ripening of their food, and wetter summers stopped the dormice from foraging.

Dormice are listed on The World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species and are protected by law, under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981. This act prevents the killing, injuring, disturbing or trapping of the dormouse. It also makes it illegal to possess or control the animal, damage its shelter and sell or buy the dormice without a licence.

Captive breeding

Captive breeding is the reproduction of animals in confinement under controlled conditions to be released into the wild. This is important for conservation of threatened species and is an example of ex situ (out of the natural habitat) conservation, but it raises implications. Captive breeding has taken place at Wildwood for dormice as part of the national dormouse captive breeding and reintroduction programme.

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The dormice are housed in an enclosure made of a wooden frame and mesh covering. Unlike other rodents theirs is a short breeding season having 1-2 small litters of 4-7 offspring. The young stay with the mother for 6-8 weeks, making it unlikely for more than one litter a year. In each enclosure the nest boxes are kept 1.5m off the ground with protection from water and predators, water and food are hung on the side of the cage and the floor is covered with leaves and soil. After hibernation the enclosure ...

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