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Abstract. Are there “fates worse than death,” to use Kurt Vonnegut’s title? Is captivity one such fate? This chapter examines these questions through the lens of conservation biology’s ex situ models of captive management—and captive breeding in particular—for wild animals, and especially for species that have been designated as Critically Endangered or as Extinct in the Wild. Drawing on interviews with leading conservation biologists, the chapter describes the erosion of the distinctions between species management in captivity and conservation in wild nature, often referred to among conservationists as ex situ and in situ conservation. The chapter examines situations in which the extinction, or the near extinction, of a species in the wild is imminent and a captive breeding program is initiated, typically by zoos, to ensure this species’ survival. I also describe the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List and IUCN’s emerging One Plan approach for integrated management of wild and captive populations.
Because freestanding wilderness areas absent human management are increasingly rare, the binary between wilderness and captivity—and between in situ and ex situ conservation—is somewhat outmoded. In place of these bifurcations, what emerges is a continuum between different (and increasing) levels of management. This chapter considers some of the complex political questions that surface with such an intensified management of life.
