eli5: Why is it so difficult to mate endangered species and increase their populations in the same way we mass produce cows and chickens
In: Biology
There are a few different reasons that can apply situationally.
While any animal can in theory be kept and bred in captivity if we provide it with a perfect enclosure, that isn’t always possible. Sometimes the perfect enclosure would simply be unreasonably expensive to build, such as with large whales, but more often its because we are missing some crucial information about some subtle element(s) the animal needs.
Great white sharks for example are incredibly hard to keep alive in captivity, even though the much larger whale shark is not only possible to keep alive in captivity, but actively thrives! This is because whale sharks despite their size live in relatively shallow and tropical areas that are easy to replicate in captivity. Their social behaviour is also very easy to research partly because it’s easy to keep them alive in the first place and partly again because they live in places we can easily observe them, making even their abstract needs easy to meet.
Great white sharks however are found in a wide range of areas, including a wide range of temperatures and water depths. We really don’t understand exactly when and how they require (or even if they require) access to different kinds of habitats.
There is also sometimes political pressure on obtaining the animals in the first place. Giant pandas are the prime example here, as they are “claimed property” of the Chinese government. You “can’t have pandas” unless the Chinese government says you can, and they don’t exactly loan them out for free.
Other examples include animals that live in very poor areas that can’t afford to provide them with protection or proper captivity, but also refuse to let foreign organizations take them.
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