Captive breeding

In order to tackle the complex issue of conserving biodiversity in Southeast Asia, the countries located in these region have started to work together to promote the conservation of specific animals.


Freshwater Turtles

Image Credit: Seaworldparks

In 2011, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore worked together to start a colony for freshwater turtles. The goal was to introduce genetic diversity in hopes that the turtles would breed and eventually be suited for reintroduction to the wild.


Milky Storks

Image credit: OrientalBirdImages

Late in the 1980s, Malaysia obtained 10 specimen of Milky Storks, 5 male and 5 female for captive breeding. The first success reintroduction happened in 1998, and the population has been increasing steadily since then.  


Freshwater Turtles and Milk Storks are not the only animals that are endangered, neither are they the only one getting attention. There are plenty of other animals all around the world that are being preserved through captive breeding as well!

Issues with captive breeding

While captive breeding is one of the key component in conservation effort, it typically involves excessive protection. For instance, protection from natural predators, environmental threats, parasites and more. Through the use of protected and managed areas, these animals are pretty much domesticated and much debate has been going with regards to the animal’s survival ability. In addition, there are additional considerations that animals bred through captive breeding may be carrier of diseases and parasites which may infect the wild.

Effectiveness of captive breeding 

Much as there are success stories for captive breeding, there are failures as well. These failures have been attributed to the lack of research and understanding to the conditions on how an animal reproduces. In addition, there are also considerations on the animal’s ability to survive in the wild.

Looking at it from a broader view, most captive breeding are done for living organisms that people are currently aware of. However, there is currently a lack of understanding of extent of biodiversity in Southeast Asia. So what happens to living organisms that have yet to be discovered?

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