6.2.

CONSERVATION APPROACHES
6.2.1. In-Situ and Ex-Situ Conservation
Conservation techniques can be grouped into two basic, complementary
strategies, in situ and ex situ. As also outlined in the articles 8 and 9 of the
Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD), biodiversity is conserved by two major
methods called in-situ and ex-situ.

The conservation efforts, either in-situ or ex-situ, involve the establishment and
management of protected areas and relevant research institutes or academic
institutions, which establish and manage arboreta botanical or zoological
gardens, tissue culture, and gene banks. The concept of ex-situ conservation is
fundamentally different from that of in-situ conservation; however, both are
important complementary methods for conservation of biodiversity.

The principal difference (and hence the reason for the complementarities)
between the two lies in the fact that ex-situ conservation implies the
maintenance of genetic materials outside of the ‘normal’ environment where
the species has evolved and aims to maintain the genetic integrity of the
material at the time of collection, whereas in-situ conservation (maintenance of
viable populations in their natural surroundings) is a dynamic system, which
allows the biological resources to evolve and change over time through natural
or human-driven selection processes.

6.2.1.1 In-situ conservation

In-situ conservation is on-site conservation or the conservation of genetic
resources in natural populations of plant or animal species, such as forest
genetic resources in natural populations of tree species. It is the process of
protecting an endangered plant or animal species in its natural habitat, either
by protecting or cleaning up the habitat itself, or by defending the species from
predators. It is applied to conservation of agricultural biodiversity in agro-

1
ecosystems by farmers, especially those using unconventional farming
practices.

In-situ conservation maintains not only the genetic diversity of species, but
also the evolutionary adaptations that enable them to adapt continually to
shifting environmental conditions, such as changes in pest populations or
climate. In-situ conservation also ensures that along with target species, hosts
of other interlinked species are also preserved as a by-product. It is generally
cheaper than ex-situ methods (although not cheap).

It may often be the only conservation option, for example for species with
recalcitrant seeds. In-situ conservation measures involve designating specific
areas as protected sites. Protection may be offered at various levels, from
complete protection and restriction of access, through various levels of
permitted human use. In practice, complete protection is rarely necessary or
advisable in a terrestrial context.

Conserving the areas where populations of species exist naturally is an

underlying condition for the conservation of biodiversity. That is why
protected areas form a central element of any national strategy to conserve
biodiversity. In-situ conservation is being done by declaring the site as
protected area in the following options:
1) National parks
2) Wildlife sanctuaries
3) Biosphere reserves

1) National Parks
A national park is an area which is strictly reserved for the betterment of the
wildlife and where activities like forestry grazing on cultivation are permitted.
In these parks, even private ownership rights are not allowed.

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2) Sanctuaries
A sanctuary is a protected area which is reserved for the conservation of only
animals and human activities like harvesting of timber, collecting minor forest
products and private ownership rights are allowed as long as they do not
interfere with wellbeing of animals.

3) Biosphere Reserves
Under MAB (Man and Biosphere) Programme UNESCO has established a number
of biosphere reserves in the world. The concept of biosphere reserves was
launched by MAB in 1975 for dealing with the conservation of ecosystems and
the genetic resources contained therein. Under MAB programme UNESCO has
studied the impact of human interference and pollution on biotic and a biotic
environments and conservation strategies for the present as well as future.

Benefits of In-Situ Conservation

One benefit to in-situ conservation is that it maintains recovering populations
in the surrounding where they have developed their distinctive properties.
Another is that this strategy helps ensure the ongoing processes of evolution
and adaptation within their environments. As a last resort, ex-situ conservation
may be used on some or all of the population, when in-situ conservation is too
difficult, or impossible.

Wildlife and livestock conservation is mostly based on in-situ conservation.

This involves the protection of wildlife habitats. Also, sufficiently large reserves
are maintained to enable the target species to exist in large numbers. The
population size must be sufficient to enable the necessary genetic diversity to
survive within the population, so that it has a good chance of continuing to
adapt and evolve over time.

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This reserve size can be calculated for target species by examining the
population density in naturally-occurring situations. The reserves must then be
protected from intrusion or destruction by man, and against other
catastrophes. In agriculture, in situ conservation techniques are an effective
way to improve, maintain and use traditional or native varieties of agricultural
crops.

Such methodologies link the positive output of scientific research with farmers
experience and field work. First, the accessions of a variety stored at a
germplasm bank and those of the same variety multiplied by farmers are jointly
tested in the producer’s field and in the laboratory, under different situations
and stresses. Thus, the scientific knowledge about the production
characteristics of the native varieties is enhanced.

In-situ conservation maintains not only the genetic diversity of species, but also
the evolutionary adaptations that enable them to adapt continually to shifting
environmental conditions, such as changes in pest populations or climate. In-
situ conservation also ensures that along with target species, a host of other
interlinked species is also preserved as a by-product. It is generally cheaper
than ex-situ methods (although not cheap).

It may often be the only conservation option, for example for species with
recalcitrant seeds. In-situ conservation measures involve designating specific
areas as protected sites. Protection may be offered at various levels, from
complete protection and restriction of access, through various levels of
permitted human use. In practice, complete protection is rarely necessary or
advisable in a terrestrial context. Human beings have been a major part of the
landscape for many thousands of years.

4
Over the course of that time, human cultures have emerged and adapted to the
local environment, discovering, using and altering biotic resources. Many areas
that now appear ‘natural’ bear the hallmarks of millennia of human influence.
Other species have evolved along with that influence and in many cases require
the disturbance provided by humans to provide the necessary conditions for
their survival.

In other words, it is rarely advisable to relegate the countryside to the status of

a museum piece. This applies particularly in the less economically developed
areas of the world, where in many cases; the livelihood of the local people
depends on using the natural resources available to them. Prohibiting the use
of such resources in protected areas means that expensive enforcement
measures usually have to be put in place.

It is far better to involve local people in conservation and to find creative ways
for them to make a sustainable living while still protecting valuable habitats or
species. Although viable populations of some organisms can be maintained ex-
situ either under cultivation or in captivity, these methods are far less effective
than in-situ methods, and, generally, they are extremely costly. Likewise,
although ex-situ methods are important under a number of conditions, in-
situ methods are generally recognized as being more secure and financially
efficient.

The challenge in using in-situ methods is to expand our vision of protected

areas to include multiple use and extractive reserves and to develop new
models for conservation including, for example, such innovative proposals as
using damaged ecosystems to preserve rare, endangered, and threatened
species and to expand the range of options available for economic
development.

5
Advantages, Risks, and Opportunities
In-situ maintenance of biodiversity through the establishment of conservation
and multiple use areas offers distinct advantages over off-site methods in
terms of coverage, viability of the resource, and the economic sustainability of
the methods:

(1) Coverage―A worldwide system of protected and multiple-use areas would

allow a significant number of indigenous species and systems to be protected,
thus taking care of the unknowns until such time as methods are found for
their investigation and utilization.

(2) Viability―Natural selection and community evolution continue and new

communities, systems, and genetic material are produced.

(3) Economic Sustainability―A country that maintains specific examples of

biodiversity stores up future economic benefits. When the need develops and
this diversity is thoroughly examined, commercially valuable genetic and
biochemical material may be found.

It is not sufficient to establish a conservation area and then assume its

biodiversity is automatically protected and without risk. Many risks both
natural and man-created remain. There are four broad categories of natural risk
to be considered:
(1) Demographic uncertainty resulting from random events in the survival
and reproduction of individuals.

(2) Environmental uncertainty due to random, or at least unpredictable,

changes in weather, food supply, and the populations of competitors,
predators, parasites, etc.

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 (3) Natural catastrophes such as floods, fires, or droughts, which may
occur at random intervals.

(4) Genetic uncertainty or random changes in genetic make-up due to

genetic drift or inbreeding that alter the survival and reproductive
probabilities of individuals.

The greatest uncertainties, however, are often anthropogenic. The elimination

of habitat to make way for human settlement and associated development
activities is the most important factor contributing to the diminishing mosaic
of biodiversity. These uncertainties can only be met with a full array of
conservation programs, including those that use ex-situ methods.

6.2.1.2. Ex-situ Conservation

Ex-situ conservation is a technique of conservation of biological diversity
outside its natural habitats, targeting all levels of biodiversity such as genetic,
species, and ecosystems. Its concept was developed earlier before its official
adoption under the Convention on Biological Diversity signed in 1992 in Rio de
Janeiro. In general, ex-situ conservation is applied as an additional measure to
supplement in-situ conservation, which refers to conservation of biological
diversity in its natural habitats.

In some cases, ex situ management will be central to a conservation strategy

and in others it will be of secondary importance. Broadly, ex-situ conservation
includes a variety of activities, from managing captive populations, education
and raising awareness, supporting research initiatives and collaborating with in
situ efforts.

It is used as valuable tools in studying and conserving biological resources

(plants, animals, and microorganisms) for different purposes through different
techniques such as zoos, captive breeding, aquarium, botanical gardens, and

7
gene banks. Ex-situ conservation is the preservation of components of
biological diversity out of their natural habitats. This involves conservation of
genetic resources, as well as wild and cultivated or species, and draws on a
diverse body of techniques and facilities.

Such strategies include establishment of botanical gardens, zoos, conservation

strands and gene, pollen seed, seedling, tissue culture and DNA banks. Ex-situ
conservation measures can be complementary to in-situ methods as they
provide an "insurance policy" against extinction. These measures also have a
valuable role to play in recovery programmes for endangered species. The Kew
Seed Bank in England has 1.5 of the world's flora―about 4,000 species―on
deposit.

In agriculture, ex-situ conservation measures maintain domesticated plants

which cannot survive in nature unaided. Ex-situ Strategies is a conservation
strategy that entails the removal of germplasm resources (seed, pollen, sperm,
individual organisms), from their original habitat or natural environment or
keeping components of biodiversity alive outside of their original habitat or
natural environment.

For centuries, gardens, zoos and menageries have been repositories for valuable
plants and animals. Botanical gardens, zoological parks and aquariums have a
vital role as many plant and animal species face an increasingly threatened and
uncertain future in the wild. A new approach is a gene bank and there are two
types: (1) laboratory gene banks for conservation of sperm, (2) natural gene
bank for conservation of endangered species.

At the International Workshop for Core Collections held in Brazil in 1992, it

was proposed that in situ or field gene banks should be established for
biodiversity conservation areas (protected areas where traditional agriculture

8
is practised, etc.). These would serve as core collections for plant species
associated with individual conservation areas, giving rise to an in situ core
collection strategy.

Ex-situ conservation provides excellent research opportunities on the

components of biological diversity. Some of these institutions also play a
central role in public education and awareness rising by bringing members of
the public into contact with plants and animals they may not normally come in
contact with. It is estimated that worldwide, over 600 million people visit zoos
every year.

Plant genetic diversity can also be preserved ex-situ through the use of seed
banks. Seeds are small but tough and have evolved to survive all manner of
adverse conditions and a host of attackers. Seeds can be divided into two main
types, orthodox and recalcitrant. Orthodox seeds can be dried and stored at
temperatures of-20oC. Almost all species in a temperate flora can be stored in
this way. Surprisingly, many tropical seeds are also orthodox.

Recalcitrant seeds, in contrast, die when dried and frozen in this manner.
Acorns of oaks are recalcitrant and it is believed that the seeds of most tropical
rain forest trees. The result of storing seeds under frozen conditions is to slow
down the rate at which they lose their ability to germinate. Seeds of crop plants
such as maize and barley could probably survive thousands of years in such
conditions, but for most plants, centuries are probably the norm.

This makes seed banking an attractive conservation option, particularly when

all others have failed. It offers an insurance technique for other methods of
conservation. The entire ex-situ conservation methods discussed have their role
to play in modern conservation. Generally, they are more expensive to maintain
and should be regarded as complementary to in-situ conservation methods. For

9
example they may be the only option where in-situ conservation is no longer
possible.

Ex-situ conservation means literally, "off-site conservation." It is the process of

protecting an endangered species of plant or animal outside of its natural
habitat; for example, by removing part of the population from a threatened
habitat and placing it in a new location, which may be a wild area or within the
care of humans. While ex-situ conservation comprises some of the oldest and
best known conservation methods, also involves newer sometimes controversial
laboratory methods.

Ex-situ conservation is a method of conserving germplasm of endangered

species of living beings and their culture in the laboratory for their propagation
in future. In this method, the species are conserved in a place other than their
habitat such as:
 Seed gene bank―This is easiest way to store the germ plasma of plants
at low temperature. Example, seed banks, sperm and ova banks, field
banks
 Field gene bank―Genetic variability also be preserved by field gene bank
under normal growing conditions.
 Cryopreservation―This type of conservation is done at very low
temperature i.e. 196°C is quid nitrogen.
 Botanical gardens―In more than 1500 botanical gardens and arboreta
(botanical garden where particular shrubs and trees are grown) are in the
world. In such gorgeous move than 80,000 species are found. Many
botanical gardens have the facilities of seed banks, tissue culture and
other latest technologies.
 Zoos―In world there are about 800 zoos. Such zoos have about 3000
species of vertebrates. Some zoos have undertaken captive breeding
programmes

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Types of Ex-Situ Conservation
Zoos
Zoos or zoological gardens or zoological parks in which animals are confined
within enclosures or semi-natural and open areas, displayed to the public, and
in which they may also breed. They are considered by universal thinkers and
environmentalists as important means of conserving biodiversity. Zoos attract
as many as 450 million visitors each year and so are uniquely placed to have
very large educational and economic values.

Zoos not only act as places of entertainment and observing animal behavior,
but are also as institutions, museums, research laboratories, and information
banks of rare animals. Although some people dislike zoos, many people enjoy
them. Over the last several decades, zoos have made significant progress in its
cooperative management of ex situ populations of a variety of biodiversity.

Zoos breed many endangered species to increase their numbers. Such captive
breeding in zoos has helped to save several species from extinction.
Management of animals in zoos includes animal identification, housing,
husbandry, health, nutrition as well as addressing and ways of interaction with
the public. There are various processes and mechanisms used to determine
whether a species or taxon is included within a zoo’s collection plan.

The frequently used criteria include how the species is valued, according to its
uniqueness, contribution to research or education, and conservation status.
Zoos help the animal to secure food, shelter, social contact and mates, and to
be motivated by desire (appetitive behavior), which is reinforced by pleasure
(consummative behavior). In the past, some zoos paid little attention to the
welfare of the animals, and some zoos today have poor environments for
animals.

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They were also once reliant on harvest from the wild to populate their exhibits
and reliance on continued wild collection to breeding closed populations. Many
zoo animals also became endangered or extinct due to visitor disturbances,
unfavorable climate and due to insufficient space. From this aspect, many
scholars state on the negative features of keeping animals in zoo as it causes
pain, stress, distress, sufferings and evolutionary impacts.

Animal welfare, education, conservation, research, and entertainment are major

goals of modern zoos, but these can be in conflict. For example, visitors enjoy
learning about and observing behavior in captive animals, but visitors often
want to observe and interact with the animals in close proximity. Unfortunately,
proximity to and interactions with humans induce stress for many species. The
same is true for Addis Ababa Lion Zoo Park.

However, progressive zoos are engaged in education, research, and

conservation, with the aim of maintaining healthy animals, which behave as if
they are in their natural habitats. The current paradigm for managing essential
populations is to minimize the rate of genetic decay, slow adaptation to the
captive environment, and retain typical behaviors. It is widely accepted that the
more generations a population spends in captive breeding, the less suitable it is
for attempted restorations in the wild.

Hence, population management is designed not to deplete too quickly the

resource obtained from the founders. Thus, for true sustainability of the
species for the purpose of conservation, display, education, and research,
constant refreshing of populations is required. Majority of the current breeding
programs are based on the genetic management of populations by the analysis
of individual pedigrees in order to minimize kinship.

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Captive Breeding
Captive breeding is an integral part of the overall conservation action plan for a
species that helps to prevent extinction of species, subspecies, or population. It
is an intensive management practice for threatened individuals, populations,
and species by anthropogenic and natural factors. In small and fragmented
populations, even if the human caused threats could be magically reversed.

The species would still have a high probability of extinction by random

demographic and genetic events, environmental variations, and catastrophes.
Thus, under sufficient knowledge on the biology and husbandry of the species,
captive breeding helps individuals in the relative safety of captivity, under
expert care and sound management by providing an insurance against
extinction.

Stock for reintroduction or reinforcement efforts, opportunities for education,

rising of awareness, scientific and husbandry research, and other contributions
to conservation are also possible through captive breeding. Environmental
enrichment strategies are used to improve both physiological and psychological
welfares of captive animals, which can be achieved by increasing the expression
of natural behavior and decreasing abnormal behaviors.

Successful environmental enrichment includes the improvement of enclosure

design and the provision of feeding devices, novel objects, appropriate social
groupings, and other sensory stimuli. The minimum requirement for
successful ex situ management, particularly in the captive populations, is the
inclusion of as much of the genetic diversity present in wild populations.

Genetic sustainability (retention of 90% of the genetic diversity of the wild

population for 100 years) in captive breeding is maintained if consideration is

13
given on number of founders, population growth rate, effective population size,
and duration of the captive program.

However, even if at least 30 founders in captive breeding are recommended to

ensure the representation of large enough proportion of the genetic diversity of
the wild population, for critically endangered species, actively removing
individuals from the wild population to serve as founders may compromise the
survival of the wild population.

For example, the Arabian Oryx captive breeding program was based on fewer
founders and grew to a couple of thousand individuals through breeding
management, which helped to reduce risks. However, there are several
challenges (biological and environmental) that are limiting factors to the
attainment of the goal of captive breeding for many species.

One of the major challenges is a circular consequence of small-population

management that has inherent genetic and demographic problems due to
genetic diversity loss and demographic stochasticity.

In addition, individuals that are well adapted to the circumstances in captivity

may also be less well adapted to the circumstances in the wild and may show
lower fitness upon reintroduction. Most notably, within the captive
environment, housing and husbandry will also have significant impacts on birth
and death rates.

Aquarium
An aquarium is an artificial habitat for water-dwelling animals. It can also be
used to house amphibians or large marine mammals and plant species for
tourist attractions. It is usually found in zoos or marine parks with different
size. The 15,750 described species of freshwater fish comprise around 25% of

14
living vertebrate species diversity and a key for global economic and nutritional
resources of which more than 11% is threatened (60-extinct, 8-extinct in the
wild and 1679-threatened).

Fresh waters (0.3%) of available global surface water support 47–53% of all
extant fish species that are threatened by overfishing, pollution, habitat loss,
damming, alien invasive species, and climate change. This requires world’s zoos
and aquariums to identify the potential targets (species or areas) for in
situ and ex situ conservation program.

Aquarium is used to admire at home by hobbyists, to portray as public exhibits,

to provide large quantities of human food and animal fodder. Fishes are often
overlooked within the development of conservation priorities. This leads to the
low focus on meaningful conservation efforts rather than giving more attention
for their importance to food supply and livelihoods.

For example, it provides job opportunity for over 60 million people, as source
of food for over 200 million people in Africa, for US$1.5 billion income from
trade of 4000 species global ornamental fish industry, and many are displayed
in the world’s public zoos and aquaria to a global audience of as many as 450
million people per year.

However, despite the clear value of freshwater fish diversity, wetland habitats
and their associated freshwater-fish species continue to be lost or degraded at
an alarming rate. One recommendation is for aquariums to set up sustainable
breeding program that prioritizes threatened species (VU, EN, and CR) and
those classified as EW to support species conservation in situ and aid the
recovery of species via collaborative reintroduction or translocation efforts
when appropriate.

15
Botanical Gardens
Botanical gardens consist of living plants, grown out of doors or under glass in
greenhouses and conservatories. They are used to grow and display plants
primarily for scientific and educational purposes. They also include herbarium,
lecture rooms, laboratories, libraries, museum and experimental or research
plantings. It can be taxonomic collection of a particular family, genus or group
of cultivars, native plants, wild relatives, medicinal, aromatic, or textile plants.

There are over 2,000 botanic gardens, holding 80,000 plant species in their
living collections and receiving hundreds of millions of visitors per annum.
Furthermore, they have valuable and distinctive mix of officials dedicated to
plant research, systematics, conservation education, and public awareness.
They are now extremely well networked both among themselves and with other
professionals, conservation organizations, and nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs).

They provide different services for sectors that utilize and conserve plant
diversity like agriculture, forestry, pharmaceutical and biofuel industries,
protected area management, and ecotourism. They have a unique opportunity
as visitor attraction places and scientific institutions for documentation and
conservation of plant diversity by shaping and mobilizing citizens to the
current environmental challenges. They also play a great role in attaining target
of global strategy for plant conservation for 2020 to cultivate 75% of world’s
threatened plant species in ex-situ.

Botanical gardens give opportunity for arable plants to be grown under

relatively modified environmental conditions (intense cultivation, relatively
high fertility, and high levels of disturbance). However, most of the cultivated
taxa are held in a small number of collections and mostly only in small
populations.

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Lack of genetic exchange and stochastic processes in small populations make
them susceptible to detrimental genetic effects. The low number of ex
situ populations in most botanical gardens poses a fundamental problem for
conservation. The total ex situ breeding collection is therefore very small with
respect to the stated aim of conserving regional gene pools.

The striking lack of information on source populations casts doubt on the value
of using such ex situ populations for potential reintroductions. They also
require testing for fitness and similarity to wild populations before they are
brought to the field. Thus, conservation actions of botanic gardens such as
training and capacity building, needs to be better understood and better
coordinated.

Gene Banks
Genome resource banking is another management technique used for
biodiversity conservation. Different types of gene banks have been established
for the storage of biodiversity, depending on the type of materials conserved.
These include seed banks (for seeds), field gene banks (for live plants), and in
vitro gene banks (for plant tissues and cells), pollen, chromosome,
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

Banks for animals (living sperm, eggs, embryos, tissues, chromosomes, and
DNA) that are held in short term or long term laboratory storage; usually
cryopreserved or freeze-dried. Plants that cannot be conserved as seeds
because of their recalcitrant nature (i.e. seeds that are desiccated and/or cold
sensitive) otherwise clonally propagated are traditionally conserved as live
plants in ex-situ field gene banks.

But, field gene banks present real logistical challenges; they require large areas
and are costly, they are vulnerable to pests and diseases, natural disasters,

17
political unrest, extreme weather, fire, vandalism, theft, and they often are at
risk due to policy changes on land use. In vitro conservation refers to one
type of gene bank known as slow-growth conservation method.

It involves culturing of different parts of the plant (meristem, tissues, and cells)
into pathogen-free sterile culture in a synthetic medium with growth
retardants, which has been cited as a good way of complementing and
providing backup to field collections. The other genome conservation technique
is cryopreservation, in which living tissues are conserved at very low
temperatures (−196°C) in liquid nitrogen to arrest mitotic and metabolic
activities.

It is now realized that cryopreservation method can offer greater security for
long-term, cost effective conservation of plant genetic resources, including
orthodox seeds. The storage in liquid nitrogen clearly prolonged shelf life of
lettuce seeds with half-lives projected as 500 and 3400 years for fresh lettuce
seeds stored in the vapor and liquid phases of liquid nitrogen, respectively.

Advantages of Ex-Situ Conservation

It is generally preferred to conserve threatened species in in-situ, because
evolutionary processes are more likely to remain dynamic in natural habitats.
However, considering the rate of habitat loss worldwide, ex-situ cultivation is
becoming increasingly important. Furthermore, as many of the taxa are located
outside natural parks or reserves, in- situ measures are not enough to assure
their conservation.

Translocation, introduction, reintroduction, and assisted migrations are species

conservation strategies that are attracting increasing attention, especially in the
face of climate change. As approximately 450 million people per year visit zoos
and aquaria globally, their education and marketing services play a key role in

18
communicating the issues, raising awareness, changing behavior, and gaining
widespread public and political support for conservation actions.

Zoos support conservation by educating the public, raising money for

conservation programs, developing technology that can be used to track wild
populations, conducting scientific research, advancing veterinary medicine,
and developing animal handling techniques. By studying animals in captivity
and applying that knowledge to their husbandry, zoos can provide valuable and
practical information that may be difficult or impossible to gather from the
wild.

Zoos and aquaria have significant roles to play in improving public awareness
of the issue facing species and their habitats; for example, through presentation
of maps and photographs of species recently extinct as a result of
anthropogenic impacts. A similar display of threatened species, even if not
currently in the collections of the zoo, would help convey to the public the
magnitude of the threat facing the species.

It also reaches a wide cross-section of the society, because zoo audiences are
not limited to those who are already passionately interested in wildlife and
because many zoo visitors are children. Some of these children may become
committed conservationists. Some may grow up to be oil company tycoons,
politicians, or movie stars, with great potential influence. Some may even live
next door to a poacher or wildlife dealer.

Thus, instilling an interest in conservation of wildlife in people from all walks

of life while they are young is one vital role zoos can play. It is often claimed
that zoos perform valuable conservation work by breeding endangered species
and returning them to the wild. Zoos can also be used for businesses that

19
make money. This means that animals are often bred for commercial purposes
because the public like to see new-born animals.

Such breeding leads to a surplus of animals, and in order to keep numbers

down sold to private collectors, circuses, or even research laboratories. A zoo
with good and attractive entertainments encourages initial visits and
subsequent returns to the zoo, which is used to get more revenue for
conservation efforts, research, and general animal care and welfare and also
to develop more positive perceptions of animals in zoos and become more
supportive of conservation efforts.

Disadvantages of Ex-Situ Conservation

Some ex-situ conserved collections showed lower resistance levels, although
still others showed higher resistance levels than their in-situ conserved
counterparts mainly due to the high evolutionary drive and complex nature of
evolutionary scenario. The behavior of animals in the zoo may be affected by
the frequent arrival of large number of people, who are unfamiliar to the
animals.

Animals housed in artificial habitats are confronted by a wide range of

potentially offensive environmental challenges such as artificial lighting,
exposure to loud or aversive sound, arousing odors, and uncomfortable
temperatures or substrates. In addition, confinement-specific stressors such as
restricted movement, reduced retreat space, forced proximity to humans,
reduced feeding opportunities, maintenance in abnormal social groups, and
other restrictions of behavioral opportunity are considered.

However, over the course of the twentieth century, as knowledge of wildlife

biology improved, zoo animals began to be kept in more natural surroundings
and social groupings, and diets and veterinary care began to improve. Thus,

20
survival and breeding rates of captive populations improved. Evidence mainly
from studies of rodents and primates strongly indicates that prenatal stress
can impair stress-coping ability and is able to cause a disruption of behavior
in aversive or conflict-inducing situations.

Prenatally stressed animals show retarded motor development, reduced

exploratory and play behavior, and impairments of learning ability, social
behavior, and sexual and maternal behavior. Prenatal stress may also affect the
sex ratio at birth and the reproductive success. Although populations of some
species managed in ex-situ may have the best hope for their long-term
survival, they might be challenged if not properly managed during translocation
and reintroduction with the effects of climate change.

Some species may lose their biological integrity particularly on morphology.

For example, an experimental study on black-footed ferrets (Mustelanigripes)
in ex-situ indicated a decrease of 5–10% body size than pre-captive, in
situ animals. In other words, the small cage size and environmental
homogeneity inhibit mechanical stimuli necessary for long bone
development.

Thus, in the absence of such an environment, ‘unnatural’ morphologies can

result that may contribute to poor fitness or perhaps even for domestication
and reintroduction and relocation. It would be very difficult to reintroduce
some zoo-reared animals to their natural habitats because, after generations of
captivity, many have lost the necessary skills to survive in their original
habitats.

For naturally out-breeding species, the high levels of inbreeding in captivity

often have negative effects on life history traits related to reproduction and
survival. It makes the population in captivity deteriorate due to loss of genetic

21
diversity, inbreeding depression, genetic adaptations to captivity, and
accumulation of deleterious alleles.

For plants, ecological shifts, small population size, genetic drift, inbreeding,
and gardener-induced selection may negatively affect population structure after
several generations of ex-situ cultivation. These factors could seriously put at
risk the success of ex situ conservation. Captive breeding of threatened
species has used increasingly sophisticated technologies and protocols in
recent years.

Although, this has blurred the dichotomy between in situ and ex situ species
management, the value of captive breeding as a conservation tool remains
controversial. It is recognized that ex-situ conservation has many constraints
in terms of personnel, costs, and reliance on electric power sources (especially
in many developing countries where electricity power can be unreliable) for
gene banks. It requires high facilities and financial investments.

It cannot also conserve all of the thousands of plant and animal species that
make up complex ecosystems such as tropical rainforests. Capture of
individuals from the wild for captive breeding or translocation sometimes can
have detrimental effects on the survival prospects of the species as a whole
through disease infection.

Even though the management of irreplaceable animal populations in zoos and

aquarium has focused primarily on minimizing genetic decay with the use of
advanced technologies, recent analyses have shown that as most zoo programs
are not projected to meet the stated goals due to lack of achieving
‘sustainability’ of the populations.

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Thus, managing zoo populations as comprehensive conservation strategies for
the species requires research on determinants of various kinds of genetic,
physiological, behavioral, and morphological variations, and their roles in
population viability, development of an array of management techniques, tools,
and training of managers.

Challenges to Ex-Situ Conservation

Ex-situ conservation requires different kinds and levels of intensity of
management, and a multi-stakeholder approach like the input from experts on
aquarium and zoo husbandry, ex- situ breeding, gene-banking, reintroduction,
and habitat restoration. Other expert input may include taxonomy, ecology and
conservation, ethnography, and sociology.

For outreach program, there is a need to liaise with local communities and
national government fisheries and wildlife departments; with international
(nongovernmental and intergovernmental) conservation bodies. The most
important challenges of applying ex-situ conservation (captive breeding) are
the difficulty in recognizing the right time, identifying the precise role of the
conservation efforts within the overall conservation action plan.

And setting realistic targets; in terms of required time span, population size,
founder numbers, resources, insurance of sound management and cooperation,
and the development of much needed new technical methods and tools. In
captive breeding to achieve the retention of 90% of the wild genetic diversity, it
is necessary to incorporate sufficient number of founders, careful pair
combinations and management.

Evidence also exists, which demonstrates that manipulation of housing and

husbandry variables can also have significant positive influence on animal
reproduction in captivity. In many cases, ex-situ populations are founded from

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only a few individuals, which cause genetic bottlenecks. Small populations are
exposed to threats such as stochastic demographic events as well as genetic
effects.

This includes loss of genetic diversity, inbreeding depression or accumulation

of new, potentially deleterious mutations. More specific problems in garden
populations include poorly documented or even unknown sources of material,
accidental hybridization of material from various localities, and or unintended
selection for traits more suited to garden conditions.

In every region, most of the cooperatively managed breeding programs have too
few animals, too few animals in appropriate situations for breeding, too few
successful breeders, too few founders, and too many animals with
undocumented ancestries and/or too little cooperation with scientifically
designated breeding recommendations.

These deficiencies are resulting in declining populations or declining genetic

diversity or both. Problems associated with small founder populations such as
inbreeding depression, removal of natural selection, and rapid adaptation to
captivity pose considerable challenges for managers of captive populations of
threatened species.

Equally, reintroduction of captive-bred stock to the wild may require

implementation of rigorous protocols that embrace acclimation, pre-and post-
release training, health screening, genetic management, long-term monitoring,
and involvement of local stakeholders. Shortfalls in implementing such
protocols may jeopardize the likelihood of achieving success.

Inbreeding due to the mating between two related individuals is unavoidable in

small, fragmented, or isolated populations typical of many threatened species,

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and it can lead to a significant reduction in fitness. The deleterious effects of
inbreeding on individual fitness can be large and may be an important factor
contributing to population extinction. Inbreeding depression has potential
significance for the management and conservation of endangered species.

As populations get smaller, the probability increases for all offspring in a given
generation are of the same sex. Evaluating the long-term efficiency of ex-
situ conservation is vital, but is complicated because of the difficulty of finding
more than one sample of a documented (origin and cultivation) ex-
situ population and its corresponding still-existing in situ source population.

Animal translocations are usually risky and expensive, and a number of

biological and non-biological factors can influence success. Biological
considerations include knowledge of genetics, demography, behavior, disease,
and habitat requirements. It also includes legal framework, fiscal and
intellectual resources, monitoring capacity, goal of the translocation, logistic
challenges, and organizational structure of decision making.

The regeneration process is one of the most critical steps and a major challenge
in gene bank management, during which there is the highest probability for
genetic erosion. It is equally important to understand how different
conservation methods (seed, field, and cryopreservation) and their management
can affect or change the genetic makeup, thereby reducing the effective
population size (Ne).

This will also contribute to decision-making process for determining which

methods to use for conservation of the wide diversity. If people are discouraged
or prevented from interacting with the resident animals, fewer visitors attend,
decreasing public financial support. The visitors’ noise and crowding become a

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source of stress for many species that affects both their welfare and the
enjoyment of the visitor.

6.2.3. Ex-Situ Conservation Practice in Ethiopia

Ethiopia is considered to be one of the richest centers of genetic resources in
the world. It is believed that indigenous crops such as teff (Eragrostis tef), Noug
(Guizotia abyssinica), and Enset (Ensete ventricosum) were first domesticated in
Ethiopia. Numerous major crop species including durum wheat (Triticum
durum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), sesame (Sesam
umindicum), castor (Ricinus communis), and coffee (Coffea arabica) are also
known to show significant diversity in the Ethiopian region.

Almost 85% of the populations of Ethiopia live in rural areas and most of this
population depends directly or indirectly on biodiversity. Biodiversity also
plays a crucial role in the different sectors like energy, agriculture, forestry,
fisheries, wildlife, industry, health, tourism, commerce, irrigation, and power.
The records on biodiversity conservation efforts in Ethiopia date back to the
days of Emperor Zera-Yakob (1434–1468 E.C).

The Emperor brought juniper seedlings from Wofwasha of North Shewa and
planted in Managesha-Suba area. Modern conservation intervention began by
Emperor Menilik in 1908 E.C. and eventually evolved to the establishment of
protected areas in the 1960s. Currently, a number of stakeholders are actively
working on biodiversity related issues at the federal government level.

These include Institute of Biodiversity Conservation (IBC), Ethiopian Institute of

Agricultural Research (EIAR), Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA),
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD), Ministry of Science
and Technology (MoST), Higher Learning Institutions (HLIs), particularly Addis
Ababa University (AAU), and offices in various regional states of Ethiopia.

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Ex-situ conservation as complementary to the rehabilitation and restoration of
degraded ecosystems and the recovery of threatened species was started 1976
with the establishment of IBC. Ex-situ conservation activities mostly focus on
high socioeconomic value and internationally important crop types that are
considered to be facing immediate danger of genetic erosion. The collections
held at IBC are mostly of indigenous landraces some of which are not seen
today in farmlands.

The collections of root crops, medicinal plants, weedy species, and wild
relatives of cultivated species are still relatively inadequate within the
existing ex situ collections. However, appropriate emphasis is being placed on
conservation and sustainable use of all forms of plant biological resources.

Since the establishment of IBC, systematic crop germplasm exploration and

collection operations have been undertaken in the different administrative
regions of the country, covering a wide range of agroecological zones.
Collection priorities were set based on factors like economic importance,
degree of genetic erosion and diversities.

The researchers’ needs the rate of diffusion of improved varieties, clearing of

natural vegetation, agricultural policies, natural disasters, and resettlement
program. For plant species with recalcitrant and intermediate storage behavior,
there are ten field gene banks under IBC control and small sized fields in the
various research stations of the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research
(EIAR) and at universities.

The plan for the immediate future is to increase the number of field gene banks
in different agroecological zones. Community gardens, backyards, and holy
places are being considered for inclusion in the future plan. Spices, vegetables

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and medicinal plants require management on a large scale and with the full
involvement of the local communities.

The initiative at national level is still in its infancy and there is currently no
well-established national botanical garden in Ethiopia including the Gulele
Botanical Garden Center. The Gulele Botanic Garden Center was established
through the Proclamation No. 18/2005 E.C. in October 30/2002 E.C. in a 705
hectare land at Gulele and Kolfe-Kernayo subcities.

It was established with a vision to see the center to be developed as an

exemplary garden in terms of education, ecotourism attraction and center for
originality of the Ethiopian plant species, and to be a place of research and
nurturing of plant species. The center also has a mission to provide persistent
ecotourism services to tourists by taking care of plant species and carrying out
educational and research works.

Although there is no well-established zoo or zoological garden in Ethiopia, the

Addis Ababa Lion Zoo Park can be dominantly cited. The Addis Ababa Lion
Zoo Park was established in 1948 with five founder lions presented to Emperor
Haile Selassie as gifts. The park accommodates lions with cubs, tortoises,
baboons, monkeys, apes, and ducks.

A team of international researchers has provided the first comprehensive DNA

evidence from 15 (eight males and seven females) samples of Addis Ababa lion
indicating the genetically unique samples that requires immediate conservation
action. Both microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA data suggest that the zoo
lions are genetically distinct from all existing lion populations for which
comparative data exist.

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Desiccation-intolerant seeds and species that do not readily produce seeds are
conserved ex situ in field gene banks. For example, accessions of coffee
(Coffea arabica), root crops such as yam (Dioscorea bulbifera) and “Oromo
dinich” (Coleus edulis), and spices like ginger (Zingiber officinale) and Ethiopian
cardamom (Aframomum corrorima) are conserved in agro-ecological zones in
field gene banks.

The need for action for global biodiversity conservation is now well understood,
and government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and botanic gardens
have all been working in various ways promoting environmental sustainability
and reduce species and habitat loss. Seed banking is the major ex
situ conservation method employed in Ethiopia.

There are three major seed banks operating in Ethiopia. The National Tree Seed
Project processes seeds from a narrow range of tree species and uses short-
term storage facilities. It aims to cater for the annual seed demand from
commercial and small-scale forestry enterprises. Of the 70 species regularly
collected and processed, 20 are indigenous.

The Forage Genetic Resources Centre maintained by the Consultative Group on

International Agricultural Research at the International Livestock Research
Institute maintains long-term conservation of a wide range of native and exotic
forage species. The Institute for Biodiversity Conservation and Research holds
active collections of seeds mainly for research and distribution and as a base
collection for long-term conservation.

For security reasons, the collected and stored germplasm need to be conserved
in duplicate gene banks. However, except for the limited samples of the
Ethiopian germplasm held by the Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research, United States Agency for International Development, and

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the Nordic Gene Bank, majority of the Ethiopian collections are still kept in a
single copy at the National Gene Bank.

Greater efforts need to be made to store duplicate collections to avoid future

genetic erosion. For the continuing power supply, the Ethiopian Gene Bank has
independent power supply in the form of a stand by generator to overcome
power cuts. Lack of adequate knowledge with respect to collection, handling,
and treatment of seeds often impedes the planting of indigenous trees and
shrubs.

Inadequate work has been done on establishing the seed storage behavior of
native species resulting in only limited availability of ex-situ conservation,
seed collections especially with respect to native forest species and the lack of
alternative storage facilities for the existing conventional cold rooms (e.g., in
vitro and cryopreservation methods).

The current holdings of the IBC gene bank reach over 60,000 accessions of
plant species. Some collections are in the medium-term storage mainly due to
insufficient seed samples.

6.2.4 Recent Concepts

(1) Keystone Species
Is a species, which is not seen in large abundance in a natural habitat, may form
a key element in hosting and feeding a variety of organisms in the habitat? The
biomass of such organisms in the habitat need not be remarkably high when
compared to its role in supporting a variety of organisms in the area. In other
word, in abundance there may be only few but in effect they may be supporting
several other species in the ecosystem.

For example, consider the case of Ficus, they are not seen in large number, a
remarkable large number of birds and insects in addition to mammals may

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directly depend upon them during the flowering and fruiting seasons of long
duration. The principle involved is conservation of specific species to support
biodiversity in the area. The impact of keystone species on its community or
ecosystem are large that can be expected from their abundance.

(2) Umbrella Species

Several organisms, like elephants, tigers, lions, etc requires wider range of
habitat for their survival. For elephant conservation, conservation of a large
area is mandatory. The concept here is that to conserve large areas under the
umbrella of a single species.

Under the cover of few such species, several of the species in the area would
get protection. The umbrella species concept is aimed not only to conserve a
single species, but also to conserve a variety of other species. Umbrella species
are also responsible for natural control of several organisms in their habitat on
which they depend up on directly and indirectly.

(3) Flagship Species

Even though a biologist cannot discriminate between organisms, there are
several species of organisms which are more attractive than others to humans.
The futures, which may be responsible for such special attraction of an
organism, can be borrowed for conservation slogan or to develop a
conservation motto, which will be impressive.

Such organisms can be large animal or a small one, it can be plant or an animal,
but a special feature of it should be attractive. Such species can also serve as
indicator species, showing the environmental quality. In case there is need for
conservation of any area, a prominent species of that area can be considered as
a flagship species.

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  For example Ethiopian wolf, Nyala, Walia, etc form the flagship species of
Ethiopia, conservation of which the Bale Mountain and Semein Mountain
National parks are developed.

(4) Cascade Effects

Destruction of a keystone species in an ecosystem may lead to drastic effects
on other organisms in the habitat directly or indirectly through the food web.
Several species may become extinct in case of extinction of a keystone species.
This is as a result of impacts of chain of activities; such an effect is known as
the cascade effect.

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