Experimental Release of Orphaned Wild Felids into a Tropical Rainforest in Southwestern Costa Rica

Montalvo, Víctor; Hagnauer, Isabel; Cruz‐Díaz, Juan C.; Morera-Chacón, Brayan Heiner; Lloyd, Kevin C K; Sáenz‐Bolaños, Carolina; Fuller, Todd K.; Carrillo, Eduardo

doi:10.3390/vetsci9090468

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Whenever feasible, capturing and collaring orphans who are fed in-situ is recommended to obtain more data about the success of this method. We cannot ignore an orphan’s fate, it is important to learn what went right and wrong so that pitfalls and shortcomings in future orphan management can be avoided [ 58 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rehabilitation and release of orphaned Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Europe: Implications for management and conservation

Molinari-Jobin,

Zimmermann,

Borel

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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Rehabilitation of injured or immature individuals has become an increasingly used conservation and management tool. However, scientific evaluation of rehabilitations is rare, raising concern about post-release welfare as well as the cost-effectiveness of spending scarce financial resources. Over the past 20 years, events of juvenile Eurasian lynx presumably orphaned have been observed in many European lynx populations. To guide the management of orphaned lynx, we documented survival, rehabilitation and fate after the release and evaluated the potential relevance of lynx orphan rehabilitation for population management and conservation implications. Data on 320 orphaned lynx was collected from 1975 to 2022 from 13 countries and nine populations. The majority of orphaned lynx (55%) were taken to rehabilitation centres or other enclosures. A total of 66 orphans were released back to nature. The portion of rehabilitated lynx who survived at least one year after release was 0.66. Release location was the best predictor for their survival. Of the 66 released lynx, ten have reproduced at least once (8 females and 2 males). Conservation implications of rehabilitation programmes include managing genetic diversity in small, isolated populations and reintroducing species to historical habitats. The lynx is a perfect model species as most reintroduced populations in Central Europe show significantly lower observed heterozygosity than most of the autochthonous populations, indicating that reintroduction bottlenecks, isolation and post-release management have long-term consequences on the genetic composition of populations. The release of translocated orphans could be a valuable contribution to Eurasian lynx conservation in Europe. It is recommended to release orphans at the distribution edge or in the frame of reintroduction projects instead of a release in the core area of a population where it is not necessary from a demographic and genetic point of view. Rehabilitation programmes can have conservation implications that extend far beyond individual welfare benefits.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rehabilitation and release of orphaned Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Europe: Implications for management and conservation

Molinari-Jobin,

Zimmermann,

Borel

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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“…Many reintroduction programs worldwide have successfully reintroduced offspring mammals to their wild group with different techniques [34][35][36][37]. In general, soft-release techniques are better for hand-reared orphans and species that suffer a significant impact from habitat loss [31,36,38].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Speaker Method: A Novel Release Method for Offspring Mammals and 5-Year Study on Three Costa Rican Mammals

García-Vila,

Such,

Martín-Maldonado

et al. 2023

Animals

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Nowadays, wild animals are threatened by humans, with the number of species and individuals decreasing during recent years. Wildlife rescue centers play a vital role in the conservation of wildlife populations. This study aims to describe a new release technique, the Speaker Method, to rescue and facilitate the reunion of different baby mammals that arrived at a wildlife rescue center with their mothers within their natural habitat, avoiding the need for captivity. This method is based on a recorded baby’s cry played on a speaker to make a “call effect” in the mother. The efficacy of the Speaker Method for babies’ reunion with their mothers was 45.8% in Hoffmann’s two-toed sloths (Choloepus hoffmanni) and 91.9% in brown-throated sloths (Bradypus variegatus). Among the mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata), 50% of the babies could be released using this new technique. The findings suggest that the method could be helpful in the early release of young individuals, highlighting higher release outcomes in these three species compared to traditional nursery care provided by human caretakers, who face inherent difficulties in raising young animals without their mothers.

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Experimental Release of Orphaned Wild Felids into a Tropical Rainforest in Southwestern Costa Rica

Cited by 2 publications

References 31 publications

Rehabilitation and release of orphaned Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Europe: Implications for management and conservation

Rehabilitation and release of orphaned Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Europe: Implications for management and conservation

The Speaker Method: A Novel Release Method for Offspring Mammals and 5-Year Study on Three Costa Rican Mammals

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