10 Important Pros and Cons of Captive Breeding

Captive breeding, often termed ‘conservation breeding,’ means keeping endangered plants and animals in a controlled environment. The animals and plants are kept outside their natural habitat in zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, and other such facilities to keep them safe and protected from extinction.

A major advantage—among numerous others—of captive breeding is that it helps introduce a healthy generation of the species to the world. However, amidst the advantages, there are certain downsides to the program, too.

Keep reading to know the pros and cons of captive breeding.

Why Do We Need Captive Breeding?

There are a number of advantages of captive breeding, which we’ll discuss in-depth in the article. But, to address the question of why we need it, here are some situations that vouch for it being a necessity today:

• Threat of extinction
• Spread of disease
• Excessive predation
• Overhunting by the humans
• A Possibility for reintroducing a species to the wild

All these factors serve as the basis for setting up such breeding programs. Captive breeding, hence, increases the chances of preserving our endangered species; that is also one way captive breeding helps ecosystems. We will discuss more about this in terms of the pros and cons of captive breeding.

According to IUCN’s List of Threatened Animals, around 11% of birds and one-fourth of mammals are near extinction, so such programs are necessary to help preserve the species’ population.

Examples of Captive Breeding

Before we go on to the pros and cons of captive breeding, here are some success stories. The animals below are a few examples that have been bred successfully with rewarding results in captivity:

Black-footed ferret

These are typical predators, feasting and living in the North American colonies of prairie dogs.

Once a large community, the species suffered a significant population decline followed by disease and habitat loss.

California Condor

Amazingly large vultures, these condors are scavengers, relying on dead animals like deer and cattle.

The California condor, too, was near extinction after a DDT poisoning and habitat destruction before being saved by captive breeding.

Arabian Oryx

This beautiful and alluring ungulate was unfortunately nearly hunted down to extinction.

The breeding program started with nine oryxes and proved to be a success. Later, a whole population of these oryxes was successfully released into the wild.

Golden Lion Tamarin

The golden lion tamarins suffered majorly due to deforestation. They lost their habitat and food; consequently, the population declined to an alarming degree until conservation and restoration programs were set up.

Today, this little monkey even has a day to celebrate its existence, i.e., August 2nd.

Red Wolf

Classified as a critically endangered canine, the red wolf is a species between the coyote and grey wolf.

The species is near extinction in the wild, but conservation efforts are in place across various habitats in the United States.

Overview – Pros and Cons of Captive Breeding

While captive breeding has several advantages, many people still disagree with the concept. For instance, many animal rights groups consider it unethical and immoral to interfere in the lives of animals and the natural environment.

Here’s a list of the pros and cons of captive breeding programs:

Pros of Captive Breeding

• Captive breeding saves animals from extinction, disease, and other threats.
• Captive breeding provides better living conditions for animals.
• Places like zoos and public aquariums educate people about the conservation and protection of the species.
• Captive breeding informs people about the animals and their natural environment; it often helps generate funds for research and protection.
• The animals receive the best healthcare facilities.
• It can also help reintroduce a species back into the wild.
• Sometimes, we get food resources from captive animals, like eggs and milk, which may help fight world hunger.
• It can also serve as an economic resource – by promoting tourism and employment opportunities.
• Helpful for scientific research.
• Captive breeding can help cross-breed different animals, creating a new gene pool of animals from different zones and areas around the world.

Cons of Captive Breeding

• Not all animals do well in captive breeding. There are a number of unsuccessful stories of captive breeding, too. For instance, Lonesome George, who died in captivity, took the entire species with him.
• Some enclosures are too small for the animals to carry out their routine activities.
• Issues such as OCD, depression, and anxiety have been observed in animals living in captivity.
• It’s expensive. There’s no denying the cost of food, medical, maintenance, and other miscellaneous expenses that we’ll incur to keep the animals in an unnatural setting.
• It can be dangerous; the caretakers often suffer from bites, stings, pounds, etc., from the animals.
• The reintroduction can sometimes lead to the spread of disease in the uninfected wild population.
• The artificial setting can never be 100% close to the natural environment. Thus it can lead to various physical and psychological issues with the animals.
• Animals born in captivity often have to stay in captivity all their lives.
• Captive animals are often inbred, leading to many new problems, including infertility, expression of recessive traits, and other genetic issues.
• A single program or zoo cannot keep and sustain the entire species; we need global cooperation, which is not easy to get.

What are the Advantages of Captive Breeding?

Now that we’ve discussed the pros and cons of captive breeding, let’s examine its advantages.

Animal Protection and Safety

Captive breeding programs ensure that the animals are safe, first and foremost, from other predators, diseases, rehabilitation, and other threats.

Much of our wildlife has been lost, and some have even been completely wiped out due to either disease or predation.

Many others have suffered due to destroying their natural habitats, like deforestation. So zoos, aquariums, and other such centers provide a safe place for breeding animals at high risk of extinction in a protected, controlled environment.

Better Provision of Medical Facilities

Another major advantage of the name is better medical facilities. Wildlife often suffers because of the lack of proper care and medical facilities. Think of all the species that could’ve been saved but weren’t because the animals—and plants—couldn’t get the medical attention they needed at the time.

Many even suffered from malnutrition, leading to chronic health conditions.

The enclosed space enables caretakers to assess the primates’ health regularly. Thus, they can be proactive in case of a disease outbreak or a general decline in health.

Natural as Ever

Hence, these places provide a safe and closest natural environment for the animals to breed and grow. A lot of work goes on behind the breeding centers. They ensure the animals get all necessities in a controlled but natural setting.

Everything, including the temperature, climate, surroundings, etc., is carefully monitored. Thus, captive breeding ensures the animals get a natural habitat of their own.

Enriched Population

The population produced and nurtured in these controlled settings is in good health. Moreover, zoos are often also able to cross-breed animals and enhance the gene pool.

Such can be done in different zones, from zoos or settings worldwide. So, the possibilities to explore are endless!

Restocking Wild Populations

An interesting and amazing advantage of these programs is reintroducing the nurtured population back into the wild. Many of the once-endangered animals now have a success story and were easily shifted back to the natural setting, like the Arabian Oryxes.

A Chance at Life

The best part is that these captive breeding programs give the animals a chance at life. As a result, we can preserve nature and species that would otherwise be lost to nature taking its course.

What are the Disadvantages of Captive Breeding?

While captive breeding programs have several advantages, they also have a few concerns. Not all species have had successful in-house breeding, as we discussed in the pros and cons of captive breeding. So, is captive breeding bad?

Let’s check out.

Bad Treatment by Caretakers

Animal rights activists and organizations often express concern that animals are not treated well in many places.

We can’t argue with the costs and level of patience needed to help these animals. But in some parts of the world, the animals are even forced to entertain the visitors, aren’t well-fed, and don’t have the free will they would in a natural setting.

So the argument comes about: is captive breeding good?

Restrictive Environment

Sometimes, the animals don’t have much space to roam around as they please. Such restrictive environments like cages often limit them physically and can do more harm than good.

This is typical for larger animals like tigers, elephants, and gorillas. For instance, lions and tigers are limited by 18,000 times in a typical zoo compared to their natural setting.

Bigger animals like polar bears are limited further by a million times in space in a zoo setting!

So, it’s not quite as ‘close to nature’ as we think!

Inbreeding

While cross-breeding is a major advantage, there’s an increased chance of inbreeding too. With the animals living in closer proximity, it’s often difficult to step in and stop inbreeding.

So, amongst the pros and cons of captive breeding, inbreeding and even outbreeding is a major concern.

Despite the efforts to keep a healthy gene pool, animals in closed spaces often inbreed. That results in a decline in their physical fitness, as many repressed genetic traits emerge in the offspring.

So we’ll have to deal with genetic problems, evolutionary changes, and many new problems that can arise due to the limited founder species.

Release into the Wild – May Have Surprising Turnouts

While reintroducing animals back into the wild has a number of benefits, it’s not as easy as it sounds.

Taking animals from their controlled and safe environment back into the wild can often lead to unexpected troubles. Also, if they have been kept in captivity for too long, it may become difficult for them to reconnect with the others in their natural habitat.

For instance, take the case of Songbirds; they learn their song from their peers in the wild. Yet, while in captivity, nobody can teach them their song.

Moreover, it’s very important to ensure that the environment into which the animals are released is viable and suitable for their return.

Behavior Changes

As living creatures, the animals also get depressed, lonely, and anxious living in an artificial setting. This may lead to certain behavioral changes and, worse, affect their survival ability in the wild.

Here’s how that happens: in a zoo, for instance, the animals get their food easily, often fed by their caretakers. So they don’t have to hunt or look for prey. However, when these animals are reintroduced to the wild, they may have become so tame that it gets hard for them even to eat.

They also cannot fight or deal with predators once out into the wild. So they may even die of hunger or lack of natural survival instinct.

So, instead of being a success, it takes us back to square one: the threat of possible extinction of the newly reintroduced—recovered—species.

So, is Captive Breeding Good for the Environment?

Looking at the pros and cons of captive breeding, there’s not an easy answer.

But, we can say that if a species is actually near extinction, and by that, we mean there’s no other alternative to preserve it, only then can captive breeding serve as a last resort. We must take the necessary steps based on whether the species is endangered or threatened.

We shouldn’t opt for captive breeding in cases where there’s simply a population decline. Opting for the program in such scenarios may just be an unrequired interference and may depict how captive breeding hurts ecosystems instead.

So, if we weigh the pros and cons of captive breeding if the challenges are met, the conditions are good, and the animals are prepared to live and survive in the wild, then yes, captive breeding is good for the environment.

However, unnecessary captivity is unwarranted, unethical, and cannot be called ‘conservation.’

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Related Resources

• Endangered Species in California You Need to Know
• 14 Environmental Organizations in California
• War and the Effect on Wildlife