Harnessing reproductive biology to conserve wildlife species

Habitat destruction, changing climate and other anthropogenic impacts have resulted in the recorded extinctions of hundreds of species, with many more undocumented extinctions being likely to have occurred. Approaches to conserving threatened species include protection or improvement of habitat, fenced conservation reserves, species translocations and reintroductions, elimination of environmental toxins, breeding programs in reserves or captivity, and genetic rescue and management. The latter includes storage of gametes, stem cells or embryos, to both conserve species and maintain or expand their genetic diversity. Many of these approaches require a basic knowledge of the reproductive biology of the species of interest. Such knowledge is difficult to achieve because of the astonishing diversity of species-specific reproductive strategies that have evolved. Unfortunately, for many species we simply do not have that knowledge. This report summarises key discussions from a workshop titled Reproductive Biology Research Needed for Saving our Wildlife held in Melbourne, Australia, and attended by stakeholders from zoos, wildlife organisations, universities, museums and government organisations. The workshop prioritised aspects of reproductive biology knowledge needed, how this knowledge might be obtained, and how it should be deployed. Using examples of planned and successful conservation strategies for individual species, the workshop participants considered environmental challenges, managing introduced species, captive breeding programs, challenges for assisted reproductive technologies, de-extinction science in conservation efforts, examination of reproductive steroid hormones across species, endocrine disruption, and cryopreservation of genomic diversity to assist the management of wild and captive populations. The workshop highlighted the magnitude of the issues involved and identified reproductive approaches to be used to direct future conservation efforts for saving threatened species.