Recent Captive-Breeding Proposals and the Return of the Ark Concept to Global species Conservation

Captive breeding for reintroduction is a much discussed tool in the management of endangered species. Although a number of high-profile case studies illustrate the critical role captive breeding can play in preventing species extinction (e.g., Stanley Price 1989; Kleiman & Rylands 2002; Cade & Burnham 2003), the available historical evidence indicates most reintroduction attempts failed (Griffith et al. 1989; Wolf et al. 1996). Over the past decade, the number of reintroduction programs and the body of scientific literature documenting these efforts has increased dramatically (Seddon et al. 2007), but the role of captive breeding remains controversial (e.g., Jule et al. 2008) despite well-documented successes.