 Reference Base  Ultrasonography as a tool in the conservation of the Afri... |
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| Location: |
World |
| Subject: |
Management - Programs |
| Species: |
All Rhino Species |
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Captive breeding programmes, conceptually designed as insurance policies for African rhino species, have, for the most part, yet to meet their objectives regarding minimal loss of genetic diversity and, at least. replacement-level reproduction (Foose, 1992). While white rhinos survive well in captive settings, overall breeding efficiency appears to be stagnant. Without intervention, many of the founder animals in the captive southern white rhinoceros population will not have reproduced before they die. These genetically valuable animals are probably nearing the end of their reproductive lives. The northern subspecies of the white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) is in a precarious state because of the low number of individuals in its isolated native habitat in Zaire's Garamba National Park (Smith & Smith, 1993), as well as lack of expansion in the captive population. The black rhinoceros has suffered serious losses at the hands of poachers and is being isolated into smaller and smaller protected areas in Africa, with ex situ captive populations plagued by a variety of diseases with multi-factorial aetiologies that appear to be related to captivity itself (Miller, 1994).
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