CONSERVING ANIMALS
How to best save threatened animal species has been a fiercely contested subject. In an ideal world all animals would be conserved in their natural habitat, but despite the efforts of conservationists the predicted rate of habitat destruction could result in as many as 2,000 species needing support through captive breeding if they are not to survive. The conservation movement is now focusing on captive breeding undertaken alongside programs to conserve and manage the habitats in which the species thrive.
Sometimes, animals bred in captivity can be released into the wild. This has been done successfully with the California Condor, the Mallorcan midwife toad, and the Mauritius kestrel among others, but much depends on how well these released animals can be protected in the wild, and whether there is any suitable habitat left into which to release them.