| Reestablishment is a synonym, though must be used carefully as it implies that reintroduction has been successful. It must be noted that reintroduction tends to be very expensive, complicated and is not the primary aim of conservation breeding programmes in the majority of cases. |
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| Reinforcement or supplementation is the addition of individuals to an existing population of conspecifics (i.e. those of same species). |
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| The aim of any reintroduction should be to establish a viable, free-ranging population in the wild, of a species that has become either globally or locally extinct. It should be reintroduced within the species’ former natural habitat and range and should require minimal long-term management. |
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| It must be remembered that reintroductions are frequently unsuccessful (REF) but success increases with time as problems are rectified. Socio-economic and legal requirements are important. The proposed project needs to be fully understood, accepted and supported by local communities. Policy, legislation, regulations and permits must all be in place before a project starts. The project must be with full permission and involvement of the recipient or host country government agencies. |
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| All of this is in the IUCN Reintroduction Specialist Group (RSG) Guidelines for Reintroduction. A summary of pertinent points are below: |
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| Planning, Preparation and Release Stage checklist |
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Feasibility study of species, ecology and habitat |
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Feasibility study of source animals – wild or captive |
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Approval, by in and correct paper work from relevant bodies and interested parties on both a local and national level |
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Construction of multidisciplinary team |
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Identification of short and long terms success indicators in context of aims and objectives |
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Securing adequate funding |
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Design of pre- and post-release monitoring programmes |
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Appropriate health and genetic screening of release stock |
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Appropriate health programme to ensure health of stock throughout the programme (may include vaccination) |
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Development of transport plans to deliver stock to release site ensuring minimal stress for the animals (or plants) |
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Determination of a release strategy (acclimatisation, behavioural training, group composition, number, release patterns and techniques and timing) |
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Establishment of policies on interventions (e.g. supplemental feeding, veterinary aid, problem individuals) |
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Development of conservation education programmes for long-term support; professional training for those involved long-term; public relations; involvement of local people |
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| The welfare of the animals for release is of paramount concern through all these stages. |
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| Post release studies and activities: |
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Post release monitoring is required of all (or sample of) individuals |
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Demographic, ecological and behavioural studies of release stock must be undertaken |
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Study of processes of long-term adaptation by individuals and the population |
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Collection and investigation of mortalities |
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Interventions when necessary |
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Revise, reschedule or discontinue the programme where necessary. |
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Habitat protection or restoration where necessary |
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Continuing public relations activities |
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Evaluation of cost-effectiveness and success of re-introduction techniques |
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Regular publications in scientific and popular literature for others to learn of successes and mistakes. |
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| The release animals |
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| Suitable release stock is ideally translocated wild stock from a population where their removal will not jeopardise the source population. If release animals are to come from captive stock, they must come from a population that has been soundly managed both demographically and genetically. |
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| With specific reference to captive stock, individuals should be given the opportunity to acquire the necessary information to enable survival in the wild. This includes fitness levels. Dangerous captive bred animals should not be so confident in the presence of humans that they might be a danger to local habitants or their livestock. Captive stock must not be reintroduced just because it is there or as a means of disposing of surplus stock. |
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| Stock should under go a thorough veterinary screening process before even being moved to the release site/country. It must always be remembered that once a wild animal has been released into the wild, it is very rarely possible to recover it or the potential pathogens it may be carrying or have carried. In addition the RSG has produced a number of species specific guidelines and the Guidelines for the Placement of Confiscated Animals. All these can be found on their downloads page. |
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| Useful Documents |
| The Guidelines on Reintroductions, together with the IUCN Policy Statement on the Translocation of Living Organism, IUCN Guidelines on the Placement of Confiscated Animals, Re-introduction NEWS, taxon and species specific reintroduction guidelines amongst many other documents,. |
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| For health screening protocols see Quarantine and Health Screening Protocols for Wildlife Prior to Translocation and Release in to the Wild |
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| Suggested species to look at as examples include: |
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| Przewalski’s horse |
European mink |
Waldrapp Ibis |
European Bison |
Californian condor, Common dormouse (in to UK), Mallorcan midwife toad (see papers by R. Griffiths and R. Gibson), British field cricket, |
Scimitar horned oryx |
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| There are several over-view papers looking at what aspects of reintroduction works and why many have failed. These can be very useful when looking at a particular project. Google Scholar© http://scholar.google.com/ is an excellent place to find references and often provides the abstract, if not the whole paper. This is particularly useful if the library that the researcher uses does not have access to particular journals. |
