Is establishing a conservation breeding program for a particular species at your institution appropriate?

Step 1 of 13 - Program details

Once it has been determined though a Conservation Needs Assessment or another credible assessment process (e.g. state or national wildlife agency) that the species in question is a suitable, or least a potentially suitable candidate for a captive conservation program, answering these questions will allow individual institutions to determine their potential to host a program for that species.

You can complete the entire form, and then click Submit to produce a report, or you can click Save and Continue Later if you wish to save an incomplete form, and return to the form to complete it at a later time.

Additional information, if needed, can be included in the Comments field for most questions.

Green responses - yes (the species / proposed host satisfies this criterion).
Yellow responses - unable to assess due to limited data, in which case relevant data should be collected (if that does not occur for any reason, this criterion should be kept in mind as something that could be adversely impacting a conservation breeding program / post-release survival and reproduction), or it is thought that it should be ok, in which case the conservation breeding program should proceed carefully and be reviewed / assessed on a regular basis.
Orange responses - the associated risk means that you should only establish a conservation breeding program for the species if it’s a very high priority for conservation efforts (or, if assessing at the institutional level, your institution has sufficient resources available, there are not other more suitable native species that your institution could focus on instead, and the risk to other amphibian species both on site and at the release site/s is low).
Red responses - no (the species / proposed host does not currently satisfy this criterion; the high level of risk associated with establishing a conservation breeding program means that it should not proceed at this time; either address the issue/s to reduce the risk, or investigate alternative options such as cryobanking).
Program information
Species*
Your name
Your institution*
Email*
Your email address will only be used only to send the results of this form back to you.

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Species range
Is the location of the ex situ facility which will hold the animals within or outside the geographic range of the target species?*
- Within the geographic distribution of the species
- Within the range state, but outside the geographic distribution
- Outside the range state
Comments
If out of range, could the program be established within range instead within an appropriate timeframe?
- Yes
- No
Comments
Investigate establishing the program within the range state as a priority.

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Other amphibians in your institution
Does the institution hold other amphibian species (irrespective of whether it is inside or outside of the geographic range of the species)?*
- Yes
- No
Comments
If the institution does hold other amphibian species, were any amphibians in your collection collected outside the geographic range of the target species for the captive breeding program, and/or have any of them ever been housed at an institution that also held amphibians from outside the geographic range of the target species?
- Yes
- No
Comments
If the institution holds any amphibians that were collected outside the geographic range of the target species and/or that were previously held by institutions that also housed amphibians from outside the geographic range of the target species, has a disease risk assessment been conducted?
- Yes
- No
Comments
If the institution holds any amphibians that were collected outside the geographic range of the target species and/or that were previously held by institutions that also housed amphibians from outside the geographic range of the target species, is the institution able to provide dedicated facilities, equipment and staff for the target species and maintain it in a permanent state of high level quarantine?
- Yes
- No
Comments

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Husbandry knowledge
Has the proposed species or a suitable analog (congener with similar husbandry requirements and reproductive biology) previously been successfully maintained and bred to at least the F2 generation at the institution?*
- Yes
- No
Comments
If the proposed species or a suitable analog has not previously been maintained or bred at the institution, is there any information available relevant to keeping and/or breeding this species? (Refer to the answers to questions 1.4 - 1.12 in Part I; if Part I has not been completed, questions 1.4 – 1.12 need to be addressed before progressing further, noting that any recommendations that a captive breeding program should not proceed should be applied.)
- Yes
- Little or no information
Comments
Information about the biology and requirements of the target species should be collected before proceeding further; in cases where this isn't possible, the captive breeding program should be designed from the outset to investigate relevant aspects of species biology and the suitability of the species for a captive breeding program reviewed regularly.
If there is relevant information available, can the institution cater to all of the requirements of the species, including any known ‘special requirements’ that could impact on husbandry needs, enclosure and/or facility design or program success (e.g. requirement for relatively large enclosures, specific dietary requirements, particular elements of the habitat or specific environmental conditions for any stage of the life history, triggers for breeding, etc)?
- Yes
- No
Comments
Captive breeding program should not proceed at your institution.

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Conservation planning
Has a Taxon Management Group or similar (e.g. State or National Recovery Team) been established for the target species (this group should include representatives from the ex situ community, researchers and field staff, government agencies, the local community, etc)?*
- Yes
- No
Comments
A Taxon Management Group or similar group should be established before proceeding.
Has a comprehensive written plan detailing program partners, goals, anticipated lifespan and management strategy, how and when reviews will be undertaken and the exit strategy for the program been developed?*
This plan should be reviewed by the Taxon Management Group/Recovery Team, or in the absence of such a group, the AArk prior to establishing the captive program. The ASG, AArk and regional zoo and aquarium associations can provide assistance to develop an appropriate plan if needed (AArk has developed a management plan template).
- Yes
- No
Comments
A captive breeding program should not proceed at your institution until a comprehensive management plan has been developed and reviewed.

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Genetic management
If the species will need to be maintained in captivity indefinitely, will the institution be able to adhere to the recommended strategy to minimise genetic and phenotypic adaptation to captivity (e.g. destroying eggs and culling tadpoles/metamorphs)? This should be part of the management plan discussed at 2.4; if a strategy has not been developed for the species in question, this needs to occur before proceeding any further.*
- Yes
- No
Comments
A captive breeding program should not proceed at your institution until a strategy to minimise genetic and phenotypic adaptation to captivity has been developed and reviewed.

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Staff
Do you currently have, or can you acquire prior to acquisition of founders, appropriately skilled and experienced staff to establish and run the proposed program?*
- Yes
- No
Comments
A captive breeding program should not proceed at your institution until appropriately skilled staff are available/your existing staff have received appropriate training at other facilities.

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Record keeping
Do you or your staff have access to appropriate record-keeping systems and small population management tools (e.g. ZIMS, SPARKS, PMx)? Small population management tools do not need to be available at the institution, but you need to either have access to them and the necessary skills to use them or partner with an organisation that can do the required analyses on your behalf.*
- Yes
- No
Comments
A captive breeding program should not proceed at your institution until access to appropriate record-keeping systems and tools is secured.

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Health management
Has a long-term plan for the routine health monitoring of the captive population been developed in conjunction with an experienced veterinarian and the Taxon Management Group, relevant Recovery Team and/or AArk?*
- Yes
- No
Comments
A captive breeding program should not proceed at your institution until a routine health monitoring plan has been developed.
Is there a veterinarian experienced in animal health and diseases available at the institution or to the captive conservation program?*
- Yes
- No
Comments
Good access to veterinarians with experience in amphibian health and diseases is a significant factor. Since you do not have access to an appropriately experienced veterinarian, you should make contact with Amphibian AArk's Amphibian Veterinary Outreach Program (AVOP) and seek advice on access to appropriate veterinarians before proceeding.

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Reintroduction
If likely release sites have already been identified, do they differ markedly from the source population site/s in terms of habitat characteristics and/or environmental conditions?
- Yes
- No
- Release sites not yet identified
Comments
Has the recommended trial to determine whether animals can successfully be transitioned from source site conditions to release site conditions already been conducted?
- Yes
- Yes but animals did not successfully transition to conditions mimicking those at the release site
- No
Comments
Additional work to determine how to successfully transition animals from conditions at the source site to those at the release site is required ASAP, and prior to any releases taking place.
Is the institution able to run the trial or has another institution been identified to run the trial?
- Yes
- No, and the species faces imminent extinction without ex situ intervention
Comments
Determine how to successfully transition animals from conditions mimicking those at the collection site to conditions mimicking those at the release site prior to any releases taking place.

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Learned behaviours
If there any known learned behaviours that would necessitate pre-release training, is the institution able to carry out the necessary training?
- Behavioural repertoire is well-known and there are no learned behviours that would necessitate pre-release training
- There are known behaviours and the institution IS able to carry out the necessary pre-release training
- There are known behaviours and the institution IS NOT able to carry out the necessary pre-release training
- There are no known learned behaviours, but the behavioural repertoire is not well-known
Comments
The captive breeding program should only proceed at this institution if there is another institution participating in the captive breeding program that can receive animals prior to release to provide the appropriate training.
Research into behaviour should be conducted to determine if there are any learned behaviours that necessitate pre-release training. If such research does not occur prior to releases, this knowledge gap should be kept in mind when reviewing the results of post-release monitoring.