IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Foose, T.J. | |
| Florida Panther viability analysis and survival plan- Interactive management of small wild and captive populations | |
| 1989 Conference Proceeding | |
This report is based upon a viability analysis and species survival plan workshop held by the IUCN/SSC Captive Breeding Specialist Group from 31 October to 2 November 1989 at Gainesville, Florida. The objective of this plan is to prevent the certain extinction of the Florida panther and to provide for its recovery in the wild through the establishment of 130 breeding animals in a combination of wild and captive populations by the year 2000 and increasing to 500 breeding age panthers by 2010. This section of the document contains information on interactive management of small wild and captive populations. Minimum viable populations, metapopulation dynamics, minimum areas, and migration are discussed. Conservation strategies for endangered species must be based on viable populations. While it is necessary, it is no longer sufficient merely to protect endangered species in situ. They must also be managed. The reason management will be necessary is that the populations that can be maintained of many species under the pressures of habitat degradation and unsustainable exploitation will be small, i.e a few tens to a few hundreds (in some cases, even a few thousands) depending on the species. As such, these populations are endangered by a number of environmental, demographic, and genetic problems that are stochastic in nature and that can cause extinction. Small populations can be devasted by catastrophe (weather disasters, epidemics, exploitation) as exemplified by the case of the black footed-ferret and the Puerto Rican parrot, or be decimated by less drastic fluctuations in the environment. Demographically, small populations can be disrupted by random fluctuations in survivorship and fertility. Genetically, small populations lose diversity needed for fitness and adaptability. |
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