Saw a post talking about the white Rhino only had 200 animals left but now there are so many more. But how is this done without serious inbreeding. Or is there something I’m missing?
Edit: yes, I know how sexy time works.
In: Biology
A very rigorous and extensive planned breeding program. Like others said, as long as they aren’t too genetically similar to start with, 200 is easily a big enough genetic pool to produce offspring without inbreeding effects. You just have to ensure, through relocation or captive breeding, that the various populations intermingle and continue diversifying. So you start by cataloging the existing animals and their genealogies as far as you can. Then you closely monitor the existing animals and ensure different lines are interbreeding. If a population becomes too isolated and begins trying to inbreed, then you move some viable adults from a different population into the stagnating one. It’s a lot of work.
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