The conservation role of captive African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus)

Since 1954, several southern African institutions have established captive breeding programs to ensure the long-term survival of the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). To aid this, a studbook was assembled to provide genetic a nd demographic information for the southern African captive populations, co mprising the largest existing regional population of captive African wild d ogs. These populations were investigated over three time frames: during 198 5-1990, during 1991-1996 and populations alive in January 1997. The captive -breeding programme is successful with a positive population growth, a sign ificant lowering of inbreeding and mean kinship and an increased genetic di versity. However, genetic variability levels appear lower and levels of inb reeding appear higher compared with wild populations. In addition, there ha ve been no successful long-term re-introductions into the southern African wild using captive-bred dogs, mainly due to the lack of close collaboration between captive breeding and nature conservation institutions. The ultimat e success of a conservation programme not only depends on proper demographi c and genetic management of the captive population, but primarily on the su ccessful collaboration of all scientific, captive breeding and conservation agencies involved. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.