Integrating Ex situ and In situ Conservation of Lemurs

Abstract

Site-based and cross-regional habitat and species conservation e!orts in Madagascar, such as proposed in the previous chapters of this Lemur Conservation Strategy, should always be the main focus of lemur conservation. However, with many wild lemur populations rapidly declining and their habitat being lost at constantly high rates, captive assurance colonies are becoming increasingly important, and the need for closer integration of in situ and ex situ conservation initiatives is now widely recognized (Conde et al., 2011; Lacy, 2013). Indeed, for many of Madagascar’s most threatened lemur species, and in particular those with small wild populations, it makes little sense to conduct separate and independent conservation planning e!orts based on whether they live in the wild, in increasingly managed parks and reserves (Fig. 1), or in zoos. Rather, their conservation in the wild, in reserves and in captivity should be viewed as points on a collaborative continuum, the ultimate goal of which should be to ensure the continued survival of all species (Mittermeier et al., 2010). In order to achieve this goal, the ‘One Plan’ approach, a framework developed by the IUCN SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, proposes integrated species conservation planning that considers all populations of a species, inside and outside its natural range, under all conditions of management, engaging all responsible parties and all available resources (Byers et al., in prep). Populations across this spectrum are managed as open metapopulations in order to achieve demographic and genetic stability and long-term viability (Lacy, 2013). It is in the context of the ‘One Plan’ approach that we are proposing to integrate captive colonies of lemurs into current and future conservation planning e!orts for these species.Besides their obvious functions as safety nets against possible extinction in the wild and as reserves for future restocking of wild populations, lemur breeding programs in zoos and other dedicated facilities also play important roles in conservation