Breeding and Conserving Endangered Canids
Meeting the Challenge of
Preserving Endangered Species
The National Zoo's Wild Canid Project focuses on studying the biology of wild canids to improve
reproductive success and to maintain self-sustaining zoo and
wild populations.
Diverse and Increasingly Rare
From the two-pound fennec fox that survives the rigors of Arabian deserts to the 175-pound timber wolf that ranges throughout the wild reaches of the Northern Hemisphere, canids (dog-like mammals) are a diverse and wide-ranging family of mammals.
Yet these charismatic cousins of our oldest and most faithful companion, the domestic dog, are rapidly disappearing. Nine of 19 species in the world are listed as "threatened" or "endangered," and several are near extinction due to habitat loss, illegal hunting, and disease.
Yet, compared to other carnivores (wild cats and bears), canids receive less public and conservation attention. And amazingly, the reproductive biology of wild canids (the essence of their survival) continues to be a mystery.
Establishing Effective Breeding Programs
As natural wild canid populations become increasingly threatened, a self-sustaining ex situ (zoo) population become essential to securing species persistence. For unknown reasons, zoo populations of wild canids (including the maned wolf, African wild dog, and bush dog) breed poorly.
Understanding the reproductive physiology of these species provides clues to successful breeding and ultimately to developing healthy populations. These animals serve as "insurance" for wild canid populations while helping to educate the public and providing critical biological data.
But there is limited scholarly information about wild canids. We are focusing studies on these species’ physiology, including how to reverse low reproductive success.
Dr. Micaela Szykman spent several years in Kenya observing a population of free-living spotted hyenas to elucidate the courtship and sexual behavior and mate choice mechanisms of this unique carnivore species.
The Maned Wolf
Few people are familiar with the maned wolf, the largest canid
in South America. Unlike other wolves that live in cooperative
breeding packs, the maned wolf is a solitary animal. The species
once thrived and ranged throughout much of South America.
It
now is extinct in Uruguay, and remaining wild populations
are increasingly threatened by habitat loss to agriculture.
Through a coordinated Species Survival Plan, North American
zoos are developing a hedge population of maned wolves.
But there are fewer than 75 maned wolves living in North America, with the National Zoo’s Conservation and Research Center holding one of the largest populations.
Studies are in place to understand why maned wolves breed poorly. A priority is to use modern reproductive technologies to generate data that will reverse these breeding failures. Tools include monitoring reproductive and stress hormones and developing methods for reproductive evaluation, semen storage and eventually artificial insemination.
Simultaneously, new information is being generated by animal husbandry specialists, behaviorists and veterinarians. A partnership also is in place with the Associação Pró-Carnívoros in Brazil to develop a comprehensive, range country conservation program.
The reproductive biology of the rare maned
wolf of South America is being studied by Dr.
Nucharin Songsasen to gain a better understanding of why
this species breeds poorly in zoos.
New information collected from zoo-maintained maned wolves
will be used to begin thorough studies of wild populations
by physiologists, ecologists, geographical imaging system
(GIS) specialists, veterinarians and educators to address
the most pressing needs in nature. Integrating knowledge is
key to success.
The African Wild Dog
African wild dogs, also known as painted hunting dogs, are intensely social animals, living in packs of as many as 25 individuals. Litter size in the wild dog is remarkably large, averaging 10 pups with occasionally as many as 20 pups in a single litter.
While reproductive potential is impressive, numbers of free-living wild dogs have decreased dramatically in the past two decades because of persecution, disease and competition with other carnivores.
Dr. Micaela Szykman, Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Zoo's
Department of Reproductive Sciences, is going to work in South
Africa studying the stress physiology and health in these
African wild dogs.
Maintaining viable populations in their native habitat and reintroducing wild dogs into protected areas are the top priorities of our current plan. Success, however, is based on initially studying the natural interactions of wild dogs with their primary competitors, the hyena and lion.
This is being accomplished by simultaneously evaluating carnivore physiology, behavior, movement and prey species in southern Africa. Our approach is unique because of our emphasis on measuring animal stress through hormones, and because we believe it is essential to integrate a diversity of data (physiological, behavioral, ecological) to identify the exact factor(s) influencing wild dog population decline.
Again, parallel studies of wild dogs are being conducted in North American zoos to begin to understand the reproductive biology of this unique species in a controlled environment.
Particularly interesting will be answering the question—how do wild dogs produce such extraordinarily large litter
size? Perhaps the findings will have application to enhancing
reproduction in other litter-bearing species. 
more
Meeting the Challenge
The maned wolf and African wild dog are but two of many wild canids deserving more research attention. With appropriate resources, our team is prepared to expand efforts to other species and regions, including the Mexican gray wolf and red wolf of North America, the bush dog of South America and the rarest of all wild canids, the Simian Wolf of Ethiopia.
The National Zoo’s multidisciplinary strategy to problem-solving for conservation has proven effective for other carnivores. It now is time to apply this approach to rapidly disappearing wild canids.
Current Projects in Need of Support
- Understanding the reproductive biology of the maned wolf to improve breeding in zoos populations and to begin field studies in Brazil
- A multidisciplinary approach to identifying factors controlling reintroduction success of wild dogs in nature
- Supporting reproductive evaluations of wild canids living in zoos or in range countries
- Developing genome resource banks (frozen repositories) containing sperm, embryos, tissue, blood products and DNA useful for genetic management and conservation of wild canids
