As wild populations decline, ex situ propagation provides a potential bank of genetic diversity and a hedge against extinction. These programs are unlikely to succeed if captive populations do not recover from the severe bottleneck imposed when they are founded with a limited number of individuals from remnant populations. In small captive populations allelic richness may be lost due to genetic...

The large and complex gut microbiota in animals has profound effects on feed utilization and metabolism. Currently, gastrointestinal diseases due to dysregulated gut microbiota are considered important factors that limit growth of the captive forest musk deer population. Compared with captive forest musk deer, wild forest musk deer have a wider feeding range with no dietary limitations, and the...

Pointing has long been considered to be a uniquely human, universal, and biologically based gesture. However, pointing emerges spontaneously, without explicit training, in captive chimpanzees. Because pointing is commonplace in captive chimpanzees and virtually absent in wild chimpanzees, and because both captive and wild chimpanzees are sampled from the same gene pool, pointing by captive apes...

Fusion of skeletal elements provides markers for timing of growth and is one component of a chimpanzee's physical development. Epiphyseal closure defines bone growth and signals a mature skeleton. Most of what we know about timing of development in chimpanzees derives from dental studies on Pan troglodytes. Much less is known about the sister species, Pan paniscus, with few in captivity and a w...

Please cite this article in press as: Benson-A spotted hyaenas, Crocuta crocuta, Animal Be Innovative problem solving enables individuals to deal with novel social and ecological challenges. However, our understanding of the importance of innovation for animals in their natural habitat is limited because experimental investigations of innovation have historically focused on captive animals. To ...

The greater amberjack Seriola dumerili is a large teleost fish with rapid growth and excellent flesh quality, whose domestication represents an ambitious challenge for aquaculture. The occurrence of reproductive dysfunctions in greater amberjack reared in captivity was investigated by comparing reproductive development of wild and captive-reared individuals. Wild and captive-reared breeders wer...

Great apes are mammals close to humans in their genetic, behavioral, social and evolutionary characteristics and new genomic information is revolutionizing our understanding of evolution in primates. However, all these species are endangered. While there are many global programs to protect these species, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) projects that in a near future th...

We conducted health evaluations of 69 wild and 22 captive Morafka's desert tortoises (Gopherus morafkai) in Mexico between 2005 and 2008. The wild tortoises were from 11 sites in the states of Sonora and Sinaloa, and the captive tortoises were from the state-managed Centro Ecológico de Sonora Zoo in Hermosillo and a private residence in the town of Alamos. We tested 88 tortoises for mycoplasmal...

An understanding of the habitat selection patterns by wild herbivores is critical for adaptive management, particularly towards ecosystem management and wildlife conservation in semi arid savanna ecosystems. We tested the following predictions: (i) surface water availability, habitat quality and human presence have a strong influence on the spatial distribution of wild herbivores in the dry sea...

AIM To study the hematology and serum biochemistry parameters of Indian spectacled cobra (Naja naja) and Indian rat snake (Ptyas mucosa) and to evaluate the differences in the same between captive and wild populations. MATERIALS AND METHODS Animals were categorized into four groups, viz., wild Indian spectacled cobra (n=10), wild Indian rat snakes (n=10), captive Indian spectacled cobra (n=10...