Species saved by conservation

tetrapod said:
Take the Golden frog population with a hefty pinch of salt! I only ever kept find mentions that a 'small number' were brought into captivity, which wasn't helpful for my purposes...

I was really surprised by the kiwi too. Others that shocked me were the Asiatic lion, Siberian tiger and Northern elephant seal. Didn't realise that things got so bad for these species, which I guess why it makes the recovery so more amazing!
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page 19-20 of this pdf has numbers collected of zeteki: http://www.cbsg.org/sites/cbsg.org/files/documents/PGF_WorkshopFinalReport_22July2014.pdf

The Little Spotted Kiwi's extinction was only a hair-breadth away. The species used to be found over the entire country, but declined pretty rapidly after human arrival because it is a lot smaller than the other kiwi species. For a long time after it had become extinct everywhere except Kapiti Island there was confusion over whether it was naturally on Kapiti or if it had been introduced there (primarily the confusion lay with South Island Brown Kiwi also having been introduced there). More recently genetics have proven that the Kapiti birds originated from the Jackson Bay area on the West Coast of the South Island. Unfortunately discussions about introducing Huia to Kapiti came to nothing, otherwise they might potentially still be with us as well. Kapiti was treated as a conservation island even back then, but had a range of introduced mammals on it, most of which weren't eradicated until quite recently.
 
I was just re-reading your lists and realised I should point out that the population of Little Spotted Kiwi was never as low as 5-7 birds ("Little Spotted Kiwi - Apteryx owenii [5-7 ind in 1912] (New Zealand)") - that is just the number introduced to Kapiti from the West Coast and from which all living birds are descended. The species survived on the West Coast until the 1930s in numbers large enough to be noticeable, and then in probably-tiny numbers through into the 70s (a few museum specimens date from the 50s and 70s, showing that at least some individuals held on long after the general population died out).

The species should still be on the list because numbers would have been well under 500, but it wasn't at any point as low as 5-7 birds.
 
Chlidonias said:
I was just re-reading your lists and realised I should point out that the population of Little Spotted Kiwi was never as low as 5-7 birds ("Little Spotted Kiwi - Apteryx owenii [5-7 ind in 1912] (New Zealand)") - that is just the number introduced to Kapiti from the West Coast and from which all living birds are descended. The species survived on the West Coast until the 1930s in numbers large enough to be noticeable, and then in probably-tiny numbers through into the 70s (a few museum specimens date from the 50s and 70s, showing that at least some individuals held on long after the general population died out).

The species should still be on the list because numbers would have been well under 500, but it wasn't at any point as low as 5-7 birds.
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Well that makes things confusing and difficult for my list! Re-reading info on Little spotteds I now see the issue. Why didn't NZ conservation authorities ever think about introducing other individuals to Kapiti or other islands, certainly when it was obvious the species was becoming rarer...? Do you have any links which might give a population estimate for the species between 1912 and when the mainland population was considered extinct?
 
tetrapod said:
Well that makes things confusing and difficult for my list! Re-reading info on Little spotteds I now see the issue. Why didn't NZ conservation authorities ever think about introducing other individuals to Kapiti or other islands, certainly when it was obvious the species was becoming rarer...? Do you have any links which might give a population estimate for the species between 1912 and when the mainland population was considered extinct?
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{Now quoting myself...!}
Found this report
https://www.researchgate.net/public...nd_a_Recently_Extinct_Lineage_of_Spotted_Kiwi

This part was interesting: The extinction of little spotted kiwi in the South Island was poorly documented, with the misidentification of great spotted kiwi likely causing confusion. Despite reports that this species was still common on the West Coast in the 1970 s [11], there have been few confirmed records in the last 70 years. Since the discovery of a specimen on the South Island mainland in 1938 [12], there have been only two verified reports of recently living South Island little spotted kiwi (a feather,
and leg bones), both from Fiordland [13]. However, there are a number of small spotted kiwi specimens held in museums that were collected more recently whose identities have been debated...

References mentioned in text are:
11. Reid B, Williams GR (1975) The kiwi. In: Kuschel G, editor. Biogeography and ecology in New Zealand. Hague: Junk. 301–330.
12. Jolly JN (1990) The little spotted kiwi, Apteryx owenii. In: Fuller E, editor. Kiwis. Auckland: SeTo Publishing. 86–96.
13. Peat N (1990) The incredible kiwi. Auckland: Random Century New Zealand Ltd. 124p

So to summarise there were LSK on the mainland of South Island, present as a few museum specimens, a couple of fresh remains and anecdotal evidence from locals, possibly up to the 80s. Pretty rare for most of this time. Population guestimate <100 individuals???
 
Thought I would update the list.

Birds
North Island Saddleback/Tieke - Philesturnus rufusater [<500 ind in 1964] (New Zealand)
South Island Saddleback/Tieke - Philesturnus carunculatus [36 ind in 1964] (New Zealand)
Pale-headed Brush Finch - Atlapetes pallidiceps [<45 ind in 1999] (Ecuador)
Campbell Island Snipe - Coenocorypha aucklandica perseverance [30 ind in 2006] (Campbell Isl)

Mammals
Vancouver Island Marmot - Marmota vancouverensis [<150 ind in 2005] (Vancouver Isl, Canada)
Amur Leopard - Panthera pardus orientalis [~130? ind in 1988] (NE Asia)

Fish
Yarkon Bleak/Bream - Acanthobrama televivensis [~150 ind in 1999] (Israel)

Updated:
Panamanian Golden Frog - Atelopus zeteki [110? ind in 2001?] (Panama) [50 ind in captivity, founder breeding program]
 
tetrapod said:
Well that makes things confusing and difficult for my list! Re-reading info on Little spotteds I now see the issue. Why didn't NZ conservation authorities ever think about introducing other individuals to Kapiti or other islands, certainly when it was obvious the species was becoming rarer...? Do you have any links which might give a population estimate for the species between 1912 and when the mainland population was considered extinct?
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conservation efforts at the time were very random, and the general thoughts after the 1930s were that the species was only found on Kapiti. There would also of course have been different ideas at the time as to what constituted effective conservation or how best to achieve it. I doubt there are any good estimates of population for the 1900s.

tetrapod said:
Found this report
https://www.researchgate.net/public...nd_a_Recently_Extinct_Lineage_of_Spotted_Kiwi

This part was interesting: The extinction of little spotted kiwi in the South Island was poorly documented, with the misidentification of great spotted kiwi likely causing confusion. Despite reports that this species was still common on the West Coast in the 1970 s [11], there have been few confirmed records in the last 70 years. Since the discovery of a specimen on the South Island mainland in 1938 [12], there have been only two verified reports of recently living South Island little spotted kiwi (a feather,
and leg bones), both from Fiordland [13]. However, there are a number of small spotted kiwi specimens held in museums that were collected more recently whose identities have been debated...

References mentioned in text are:
11. Reid B, Williams GR (1975) The kiwi. In: Kuschel G, editor. Biogeography and ecology in New Zealand. Hague: Junk. 301–330.
12. Jolly JN (1990) The little spotted kiwi, Apteryx owenii. In: Fuller E, editor. Kiwis. Auckland: SeTo Publishing. 86–96.
13. Peat N (1990) The incredible kiwi. Auckland: Random Century New Zealand Ltd. 124p

So to summarise there were LSK on the mainland of South Island, present as a few museum specimens, a couple of fresh remains and anecdotal evidence from locals, possibly up to the 80s. Pretty rare for most of this time. Population guestimate <100 individuals???
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if you scroll down to "The Recent History of Little Spotted Kiwi" on page 7 of your link, it talks about the confusion between great and little spotted kiwi and says "the results presented here suggest that little spotted kiwi survived, and were widespread, on the mainland until quite recently" but makes the comment that they can't rule out hybrids for the known specimens. However:

This briefer "popular" article from the same author (Lara Shepherd) is specifically about the last DNA-tested individuals and says "We were able to show ...[that the specimens]... were all little spotted kiwi": When did little spotted kiwi become extinct on the New Zealand mainland? | Te Papa's Blog


Moving on a little bit, and to make things worse, the original birds introduced to Kapiti did not apparently all breed - it seems only three birds may have been the founders of the entire world population now.
New Zealand's Little Spotted Kiwi Birds are in More Trouble than We Thought - Scientific American Blog Network
We were also shocked to find that a population as big as Kapiti looks like it didn't just came from five birds, but all of the genetic diversity in that population could be explained by just three of those birds reproducing, two of them being female.
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The research paper on that is here: Genetic consequences of a century of protection: serial founder events and survival of the little spotted kiwi (Apteryx owenii) | Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences
 
tetrapod said:
Pere David's - first time I have ever seen that the world population stems from only 3 individuals breeding. Would make a mockery of Woburn's history of the species. Would prefer some more confirmation about this.
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It is very difficult to unravel the exact breeding history of Pere David's deer. The popular version is that the Duke of Bedford 'gathered all the remaining deer in Europe' at Woburn, variously given as a total of 11-18 animals, and that these- though not necessarily all of them, then successfully bred. Though I believe I have also read somewhere that the 11th(?) Duke recorded that the ones he received from one place(it may have been Berlin) did not breed.

On the other hand Lintworm's link mentioned above suggests the Berlin ones were the only ones that did breed- but I cannot read the German, to confirm if that's what it says. I find it hard to believe only three out of a dozen or more animals were fit to breed though.

And again, I have heard in the past that one European zoo didn't co-operate with the Duke and contribute their animals to Woburn- I thought that was Berlin.

Just to add to the confusion.:confused:
 
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Re Pere David's Deer. I'll try and find my copy of the Duke's book and check, but I think it was more like eight animals that actually bred.
 
another species which may be good for your list: on a much older thread it was mentioned that Carolina Wood Ducks were almost eliminated in North America through hunting, and only captive-breeding and releases by a private aviculturist saved them.

I had a vague google and see that a number of sites mention phrases like "decimated" or "alarmingly low numbers", but I haven't seen any actual figures (but I didn't look very hard).
 
Chlidonias said:
there are more confusing numbers on this thread: http://www.zoochat.com/38/duke-bedford-pere-davids-deer-356516/ :)
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Rereading that lengthy discussion- could it be that the 1.2. Berlin animals actually were the progenitors of(some/most of) the other animals in European Zoos before the Duke collected them all at Woburn?

His comment that 'two females from Berlin were barren' indicates they might have been very old by then- deer are not normally infertile otherwise.
 
I see the Pere David Deer thing has been covered in a thread of its own -- Dillon Ripley covers the Wood Duck reintroduction in his book 'A Paddling of Ducks'. No actual numbers are mentioned, but my understanding is that foundation stock had to sourced from Europe, where the species was already well established in aviculture.
 
Chlidonias said:
another species which may be good for your list: on a much older thread it was mentioned that Carolina Wood Ducks were almost eliminated in North America through hunting, and only captive-breeding and releases by a private aviculturist saved them.

I had a vague google and see that a number of sites mention phrases like "decimated" or "alarmingly low numbers", but I haven't seen any actual figures (but I didn't look very hard).
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Not surprisingly I cannot find any more definite info either to suggest just how small the wild population was. I suspect that the captive population was pretty decent if they were able to source European birds to restock. Obviously if we were looking at all species where conservation measures had had a improvement on the wild population no matter how low the population shrank, then Carolina wood ducks would get a mention...
 
Another update to the list:

Birds
Seychelles Black Parrot/Kato Nwar - Coracopsis barklyi [~30-50 ind in late 1960s] (Seychelles)
Red-necked Amazon/Jacquot - Amazona arausiaca [~150 ind in 1980] (Dominica)
Saint Vincent Amazon - Amazona guildingii [370-470 ind in 1982] (St Vincent)
Marquesan Imperial Pigeon/Upe - Ducula galeata [~250 ind in 1998] (Marquesas Isl)
Okarito Kiwi/Rowi - Apteryx rowi [~160 ind in 1995] (New Zealand)

Reptiles
La Gomera Giant Lizard - Gallotia bravoana [134 ind in 2004] (Canary Isl)
El Hierro Giant Lizard - Gallotia simonyi machadoi [~200 ind in 1994] (Canary Isl)
 
animal_expert01 said:
What about Zoogoneticus tequila, it is only kept by a few aquarists and university's and is only found in one drainage ditch in the wild, You can buy them here for very cheap if you wanted to start your own captive breeding program! Z. tequila - Zoogoneticus tequila
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There are a number of frehwater fish species in a similar boat, particularly livebearers, pupfish + cichlids. Their original habitats (or what is left) are often very restricted, thus small populations. All these groups tend to do well in captivity too. The problem that I have in regards to adding these species to the list in my initial enquiry was that the lowest population level needed to be known to be below 500 individuals, and that the species had recovered through a regulated conservation program. This could be in-situ or ex-situ. Whilst just breeding the fish is an important outcome, unfortunately with most fish spp that are in the public trade, aquarists have bred them without any regard to genetics. Have some genetic lines died out through negligence? Do we have (more) inbred populations through unregulated breeding? Doubt many of those species which aren't in zoos/aquaria (as part of a breeding program) have been studied sufficiently. Not sure that we can add these species as a 'success' just yet.
 
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