Translocate mammals away from site contaminated by oil spill

Overall effectiveness category Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)
Number of studies: 1
Share Tweet Email

View assessment score

How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

65%
Certainty

20%
Harms

10%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Where there is a large pollution event that has potential to affect wild mammals, one intervention option may be to translocate these mammals to another site. In such event, the translocation would be an emergency action, carried out with minimal planning. It would only be likely to be considered where the survival chances of mammals would be very low otherwise.

Study locations

Key messages

One study evaluated the effects of translocating mammals away from a site contaminated by oil spill. This study was in the USA.

COMMUNITY RESPONSE (0 STUDIES)

POPULATION RESPONSE (1 STUDY)

Survival (1 study): A study in the USA found that after being translocated in a trial of responses to a hypothetical pollution incident, most sea-otters survived for the duration of monitoring.

BEHAVIOUR (1 STUDY)

Behaviour change (1 study): A study in the USA found that after being translocated in a trial of responses to a hypothetical pollution incident, most sea-otters did not return to their capture location.

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 study in 1988–1989 in coastal waters of California, USA (Ralls et al. 1992) found that after being translocated in a trial of responses to a hypothetical pollution incident, most sea-otters Enhydra lutris survived for the duration of monitoring and did not return to their capture location. Seventeen of 19 translocated sea otters survived for at least 16–87 days after release. Two died at the release site, after 21 and 28 days after release. Five of 19 translocated sea otters were recorded back at their capture location during the monitoring period. Twelve were last recorded at a site 27 km from the release site. Nineteen sea otters were caught between May 1988 and May 1989 and were released 291 km further north. Nine were released immediately on arrival and 10 were held for 48 hours in floating pens before release. Sea otters were radio-tracked from the ground or air for 16–87 days after release.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Ralls K., Siniff D.B., Doroff A. & Mercure A. (1992) Movements of sea otters relocated along the California coast. Marine Mammal Science, 8, 178-184.

Please cite as:

Littlewood, N.A., Rocha, R., Smith, R.K., Martin, P.A., Lockhart, S.L., Schoonover, R.F., Wilman, E., Bladon, A.J., Sainsbury, K.A., Pimm S. and Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Terrestrial Mammal Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Interventions for terrestrial mammals excluding bats and primates. Synopses of Conservation Evidence Series. University of Cambridge, 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:

Terrestrial Mammal Conservation

Related Actions

Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
Translocate mammals away from site contaminated by oil spill Action Link	Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)	1	Synopsis Link
Establish riparian buffers Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link
Reduce pesticide or fertilizer use Action Link	Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)	3	Synopsis Link