Advances in Reproductive Science for Wild Carnivore Conservation

Reproduction is essential to continuation and evolution of life. Therefore, the discipline is core to understanding a species ability to reproduce, survive and contribute to a healthy, viable ecosystem. In the context of conservation, knowledge about reproduction is of scholarly importance, but also is valuable for predicting the viability of populations if not entire species in the wild or in captivity. Thus, there can be practical benefits for using information gleaned from basic studies to formulate and implement managed breeding and recovery programs. The priority always is for preemptive, species-based characterization studies because how animals reproduce is extraordinarily diverse among species, even within the same taxonomic family. Explicit understandings of reproductive mechanisms are well understood for only a fraction of the 40,000 recognized vertebrate species. Carnivores are an excellent taxon for attention due not only to charisma, but susceptibility to environmental change, loss and fragmentation of habitat, and human persecution. There also are common species (i.e., domestic cat, dog and ferret) that can serve as ‘models’ for parallel studies of endangered counterparts (cheetah, maned wolf, black-footed ferret, among others). Here, we review recent discoveries about new and unique reproductive mechanisms being revealed in wild carnivores that are both of fundamental and applied interest. This includes for instance studies in Namibia and USA on gamete biology in cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus). Data collected over several years have contributed to the creation of a Genome Resource Bank from wild-caught individuals that will be used to infuse new genes in the captive population. Another field related study is occurring in South Africa with the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). Noninvasive assessment of fecal corticosteroid levels in free-ranging African wild dogs is yielding new insights into how the stress of relocation and reintroduction impacts reproductive fitness and survival in African wild dogs. This example illustrates how advances in wildlife reproductive science are frequently unlinked to ‘assisted breeding’ or the production of young. In most cases, the knowledge itself is most valuable. However, there are examples of how assisted breeding, almost always artificial insemination, is contributing to species recovery and even reintroduction into nature. The best example is the restoration of the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) into the American West after the development of improved natural and assisted breeding. Our laboratory has contributed to the production of 133 genetically valuable black-footed ferret kits that have been used for breeding stock or reintroduction to the wild. Combined with significant advances in other scientific disciplines, this is an example of how multidisciplinary research is contributing to real conservation. The species to be discussed in this presentation are illustrative, not only of the role of reproductive science, but our need to expand activities exponentially to address a growing number of carnivore species at risk for survival.