Raise a Tasmanian Tiger at home?
April 6, 2010 9:57 PM Subscribe
Is it possible to get involved with a breeding program for endangered species at home?
Obviously pandas or tigers won't work, but is it possible to be actively involved in your own home with helping to restore numbers of an endangered species, either animal or plant?
Of course I have no expertise or training, so no breeding program is just going to hand over one of their rare Toucan eggs in the hope I'll get it to hatch. Is there an opportunity to be assigned a few tadpoles or ants and raise them with the aim of future release or further breeding?
Plants would be good too - handing out seeds to be raised into seedlings seems like a more feasible program. We already have a Wollemi Pine, but it is limited to a big pot in the back courtyard, and there is no expectation of using it to reproduce in the future.
I'm in Sydney, Australia, which of course will determine what's native, but I'd be interested to see what is happening in the amateur endangered species breeding field in other areas of the world.
Thanks!
Obviously pandas or tigers won't work, but is it possible to be actively involved in your own home with helping to restore numbers of an endangered species, either animal or plant?
Of course I have no expertise or training, so no breeding program is just going to hand over one of their rare Toucan eggs in the hope I'll get it to hatch. Is there an opportunity to be assigned a few tadpoles or ants and raise them with the aim of future release or further breeding?
Plants would be good too - handing out seeds to be raised into seedlings seems like a more feasible program. We already have a Wollemi Pine, but it is limited to a big pot in the back courtyard, and there is no expectation of using it to reproduce in the future.
I'm in Sydney, Australia, which of course will determine what's native, but I'd be interested to see what is happening in the amateur endangered species breeding field in other areas of the world.
Thanks!
I imagine with any seriously endangered species you would be strongly discouraged if not actually forbidden from raising them on your own and releasing them into the wild. You could, for example, unknowingly transmit a bad case of mites or a virtually sterile generation back into a fragile population without knowing it.
However...the brachypelma smithi and other brachpelma variants are 'at risk' of becoming endangered partly due to habitat-destruction and partly from over-harvesting for the pet trade. And Indian spiders are endangered primarily from deforestation. There are a number of hobbyists who breed them partly so that they can supply the marketplace with captive-bred spiders and prevent overharvesting in the wild.
Those 2 examples are probably of no use to you in Australia, but if there's a species of plant or animal that you're interested in raising that fits the same description (at-risk of being endangered, still legal to buy and sell, in demand) then you could raise them, sell them, and prevent overharvesting in the wild.
posted by K.P. at 8:38 AM on April 7, 2010
However...the brachypelma smithi and other brachpelma variants are 'at risk' of becoming endangered partly due to habitat-destruction and partly from over-harvesting for the pet trade. And Indian spiders are endangered primarily from deforestation. There are a number of hobbyists who breed them partly so that they can supply the marketplace with captive-bred spiders and prevent overharvesting in the wild.
Those 2 examples are probably of no use to you in Australia, but if there's a species of plant or animal that you're interested in raising that fits the same description (at-risk of being endangered, still legal to buy and sell, in demand) then you could raise them, sell them, and prevent overharvesting in the wild.
posted by K.P. at 8:38 AM on April 7, 2010
I think you may be able to do something with plants. I swear I've heard of a program in Chicago where people can grow native wildflowers in their yards/gardens, and then collect and donate the seeds for habitat restoration (although I can't find anything online at the moment). Maybe start with a search for seed bank or seed exchange programs. I have no idea what there may be in Australia, but I think it's worth a shot!
posted by gueneverey at 5:40 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by gueneverey at 5:40 PM on April 7, 2010
You could possibly become a wildlife rehabilitator. They don't usually breed the animals, but they'll take injured adults or abandoned young, nurse them back to health, teach them to hunt, and then release. Also most of them are working with animals that aren't seriously endangered, but which generally need protection. Here's some writing about it by an American author (the animal rehab part starts about 4 paragraphs down), her suggestion is to contact Fish and Wildlife if you want to get started doing this, but I'm not sure what the Australian equivalent would be called?
posted by anaelith at 2:47 AM on April 8, 2010
posted by anaelith at 2:47 AM on April 8, 2010
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posted by singingfish at 11:13 PM on April 6, 2010