Captive breeding cannot save the threatened Asian Houbara without regulation of hunting

What is it about?

Asian Houbara are declining due to unregulated hunting and trade, while captive-breeding is used at increasingly large scales in an attempt to reinforce and support wild populations. However, consequence of captive breeding and the numbers of releases required to make hunting sustainable had not previously been quantified. We developed a demographic model of Asian Houbara (parameterised by satellite telemetry and extensive fieldwork in the Kyzlkumm, Uzbekistan). Management solely through captive breeding would require releases that are so large relative to wild numbers that this risks domestication and replacement rather than reinforcement of wild populations. But if hunting is regulated and poaching controlled, conservation can be achieved with minimal use of captive-breeding.

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Why is it important?

This shows that captive breeding alone cannot substitute for the regulation of hunting and control of poaching. An integrated conservation strategy must be used.

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