'Intentional genetic manipulation' as a conservation threat

Wildlife ranching including the hunting, collection, sales and husbandry of wild animals in captivity, is practised worldwide and is advocated as an approach towards the conservation of wild species. While many authors have explored the biological impacts of intensive wild population management, primarily with respect to disease transmission (especially in ungulates and fish), the evolutionary and demographic effects of wildlife ranching have been examined less intensively. We discuss this issue through the case of intensive wildlife management in southern Africa. The genetic consequences of this global practice, with an emphasis on Africa, were addressed by a motion passed at the 2016 IUCN World Congress- ‘Management and regulation of intensive breeding and genetic manipulation of large mammals for commercial purposes’. Here, we highlight concerns regarding intensive breeding programs used to discover, enhance and propagate unusual physical traits, hereafter referred to as ‘Intentional Genetic Manipulation’. We highlight how ‘Intentional Genetic Manipulation’ potentially threatens the viability of native species and ecosystems, via genetic erosion, inbreeding, hybridisation and unregulated translocation. Finally, we discuss the need for better policies in southern Africa and globally, regarding ‘Intentional Genetic Manipulation’, and the identification of key knowledge gaps

Lessons for conservation management: Monitoring temporal changes in genetic diversity of Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra)

The Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) is a subspecies of mountain zebra endemic to South Africa. The Cape mountain zebra experienced near extinction in the early 1900's and their numbers have since recovered to more than 4,800 individuals. However, there are still threats to their long-term persistence. A previous study reported that Cape mountain zebra had low genetic diversity in three relict populations and that urgent conservation management actions were needed to mitigate the risk of further loss. As these suggestions went largely unheeded, we undertook the present study, fifteen years later to determine the impact of management on genetic diversity in three key populations. Our results show a substantial loss of heterozygosity across the Cape mountain zebra populations studied. The most severe losses occurred at De Hoop Nature Reserve where expected heterozygosity reduced by 22.85% from 0.385 to 0.297. This is alarming, as the De Hoop Nature Reserve was previously identified as the most genetically diverse population owing to its founders originating from two of the three remaining relict stocks. Furthermore, we observed a complete loss of multiple private alleles from all populations, and a related reduction in genetic structure across the subspecies. These losses could lead to inbreeding depression and reduce the evolutionary potential of the Cape mountain zebra. We recommend immediate implementation of evidence-based genetic management and monitoring to prevent further losses, which could jeopardise the long term survival of Cape mountain zebra, especially in the face of habitat and climate change and emerging diseases

The contribution of digital sequence information to conservation biology: a Southern African perspective

Many recent contributions have made a compelling case that genetic diversity is not adequately reflected in international frameworks and policies, as well as in local governmental processes implementing such frameworks. Using digital sequence information (DSI) and other publicly available data is supported to assess genetic diversity, toward formulation of practical actions for long‐term conservation of biodiversity, with the particular goal of maintaining ecological and evolutionary processes. Given the inclusion of specific goals and targets regarding DSI in the latest draft of the Global Biodiversity Framework negotiated at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) in Montreal in December 2022 and the crucial decisions on access and benefit sharing to DSI that will be taken in the coming months and future COP meetings, a southern African perspective on how and why open access to DSI is essential for the conservation of intraspecific biodiversity (genetic diversity and structure) across country borders is provided

A framework to measure the wildness of managed large vertebrate populations

As landscapes continue to fall under human influence through habitat loss and fragmentation, fencing is increasingly being used to mitigate anthropogenic threats and enhance the commercial value of wildlife. Subsequent intensification of management potentially erodes wildness by disembodying populations from landscape‐level processes, thereby disconnecting species from natural selection. Tools are needed to measure the degree to which populations of large vertebrate species in formally protected and privately owned wildlife areas are self‐sustaining and free to adapt. We devised a framework to measure such wildness based on 6 attributes relating to the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of vertebrates (space, disease and parasite resistance, exposure to predation, exposure to limitations and fluctuations of food and water supply, and reproduction). For each attribute, we set empirical, species‐specific thresholds between 5 wildness states based on quantifiable management interventions. We analysed data from 205 private wildlife properties with management objectives spanning ecotourism to consumptive utilization to test the framework on 6 herbivore species representing a range of conservation statuses and commercial values. Wildness scores among species differed significantly, and the proportion of populations identified as wild ranged from 12% to 84%, which indicates the tool detected site‐scale differences both among populations of different species and populations of the same species under different management regimes. By quantifying wildness, this framework provides practitioners with standardized measurement units that link biodiversity with the sustainable use of wildlife. Applications include informing species management plans at local scales; standardizing the inclusion of managed populations in red‐list assessments; and providing a platform for certification and regulation of wildlife‐based economies. Applying this framework may help embed wildness as a normative value in policy and mitigate the shifting baseline of what it means to truly conserve a species.The South African National Biodiversity Institute, the Department of Environmental Affairs, E Oppenheimer & Son and De Beers Group of Companies, and the Endangered Wildlife Trust that funded the national Mammal Red List project. The University of Pretoria and the South African National Biodiversity Institute provided M.C. with funding.https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/152317392020-10-01hj2019Centre for Wildlife ManagementMammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog

A framework to measure the wildness of managed large vertebrate populations

As landscapes continue to fall under human influence through habitat loss and fragmentation, fencing is increasingly being used to mitigate anthropogenic threats and enhance the commercial value of wildlife. Subsequent intensification of management potentially erodes wildness by disembodying populations from landscape‐level processes, thereby disconnecting species from natural selection. Tools are needed to measure the degree to which populations of large vertebrate species in formally protected and privately owned wildlife areas are self‐sustaining and free to adapt. We devised a framework to measure such wildness based on 6 attributes relating to the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of vertebrates (space, disease and parasite resistance, exposure to predation, exposure to limitations and fluctuations of food and water supply, and reproduction). For each attribute, we set empirical, species‐specific thresholds between 5 wildness states based on quantifiable management interventions. We analysed data from 205 private wildlife properties with management objectives spanning ecotourism to consumptive utilization to test the framework on 6 herbivore species representing a range of conservation statuses and commercial values. Wildness scores among species differed significantly, and the proportion of populations identified as wild ranged from 12% to 84%, which indicates the tool detected site‐scale differences both among populations of different species and populations of the same species under different management regimes. By quantifying wildness, this framework provides practitioners with standardized measurement units that link biodiversity with the sustainable use of wildlife. Applications include informing species management plans at local scales; standardizing the inclusion of managed populations in red‐list assessments; and providing a platform for certification and regulation of wildlife‐based economies. Applying this framework may help embed wildness as a normative value in policy and mitigate the shifting baseline of what it means to truly conserve a species.The South African National Biodiversity Institute, the Department of Environmental Affairs, E Oppenheimer & Son and De Beers Group of Companies, and the Endangered Wildlife Trust that funded the national Mammal Red List project. The University of Pretoria and the South African National Biodiversity Institute provided M.C. with funding.https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/152317392020-10-01hj2019Centre for Wildlife ManagementMammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog