Ethiopian wolf facing extinction

deanmo19 said:
Then we have to get someone to bring Ethiopian wolves to be kept in several zoos, including the U.S.
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Even *if* a captive conservation programme was started, the last thing they'd want to do is send some to the USA and some elsewhere - lack of genetic exchange is a big part of the problem, so they wouldn't want to have populations spread thinly around the world like too little butter scraped over some toast. They'd want to have several captive populations in an area of, at most, a handful of neighbouring countries.
 
This is why I don't read conservation articles in business journals. The study didn't address the impending extinction, but rather the lack of gene flow between the populations. The simple solution to this is simply to move some of the males around between the groups. This will foster new breeding and better genetics. A captive population is not needed.
 
Well, up until the recent genetic evidence with the north African Golden Jackals, they were.
 
jbnbsn99 said:
Well, up until the recent genetic evidence with the north African Golden Jackals, they were.
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Technically they still are the only African wolf species, as the "jackals" are a African subspecies of a cosmopolitan species. :p
 
devilfish said:
Good point. I'm being a little bit thick tonight, and for some reason that makes me keen on splitting taxa. :p
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Too much time spent in Eastside, if you asked me. Of course, in my day, it was called Southside, and even then the last thing I wanted to see was students. Try the 'Hoop and Toy'. :D

Anyway, I do agree that zoos need to start a breeding programme because these animals cannot be expected to survive in a lawless country through in-situ conservation.
 
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