Release captive-bred amphibians

Overall effectiveness category Likely to be beneficial
Number of studies: 1
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

55%
Certainty

50%
Harms

10%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Captive breeding is usually undertaken to provide individuals for release into the wild, either to reintroduce the species to part of their former range, or to increase the size of an existing population.

Amphibians possess a number of traits that make them potentially suitable for captive breeding and reintroduction programmes. They reproduce relatively quickly and their small size and low maintenance requirements allow viable populations to be managed much more cost-effectively than many larger animals. Also unlike higher vertebrates that possess many learned behaviours that may reduce survival in the wild, the hard-wired physiology and behaviour of amphibians means that pre- and post-release training are not required. However, before release consideration must be given to genetic management, health screening, acclimation of animals, long-term monitoring and involvement of local stakeholders.

Studies investigating captive breeding and release of specific groups of amphibians are discussed in separate sections. Studies investigating captive breeding are discussed in ‘Breed amphibians in captivity’.

Key messages

One review found that 41% of release programmes of captive-bred or head-started amphibians showed evidence of breeding in the wild for multiple generations, 29% showed some evidence of breeding and 12% evidence of survival following release.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A review in 2008 of the effectiveness of 39 release programmes of captive-bred or head-started amphibians (Griffiths & Pavajeau 2008) found that 14 of 17 programmes that could be assessed were considered successful. Seven species (2 toad; 3 frog; 2 newt) showed evidence of breeding in the wild for multiple generations (high success), five species (3 toad; 2 frog) showed some evidence of breeding (partial success) and two species (1 toad; 1 frog) only showed evidence of survival following release (low success). Three programmes were considered unsuccessful and the outcome was not known for the other 19. Species from 16 countries were involved in these release programmes, with a bias towards temperate countries. Half of the species were classified in the top four highest IUCN threat categories (i.e. vulnerable to extinct in the wild).
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Griffiths R.A. & Pavajeau L. (2008) Captive breeding, reintroduction, and the conservation of amphibians. Conservation Biology, 22, 852-861.

Please cite as:

Smith, R.K., Meredith, H. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Amphibian Conservation. Pages 9-64 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Amphibian Conservation

Related Actions

Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
Release captive-bred Mallorcan midwife toads Action Link	Trade-off between benefit and harms	4	Synopsis Link
Head-start amphibians for release Action Link	Trade-off between benefit and harms	25	Synopsis Link
*Captive breeding harlequin toads (Atelopus* species)** Action Link	Trade-off between benefit and harms	6	Synopsis Link