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
Domesticated animals like cows have been selectively bred and although it’s not the primary trait farmers have looked for the selective breeding has included a tolerance for human proximity, so can be readily bred on farms. Their habitat is also one that is commercially viable to provide – pasture – because were farming the animals.
Many wild animals have a low tolerance for proximity to animals they perceive as threats – and humans certainly qualify here. Captivity, particularly with close human proximity, puts stress on them that discourages reproduction. Large wild animals (eg rhinos, pandas, etc) also have a strong preference for a large habitat. If they don’t believe their habitat needs are being met they won’t breed. Further – if bred it is often challenging to release them into the wild, as the primary factors for why they are endangered are:
1. Loss of habitat, mostly due to humans.
2. Poaching, entirely due to humans.
Lost habitat has been lost because we’ve taken it for other uses. And animals that get poached are still highly targeted by poachers. So even if we could mass breed them it would be extremely challenging to repopulate wild populations as there’s nowhere to put them and even when there is people frequently kill them.
Then we come to captive populations – many of these animals are very resource intensive to maintain in captivity so have to be commercially viable within the budgets of zoos, which are often very tight. Zoos flatly cannot afford to mass reproduce them.
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