I am replying to Rod Kennet's message regarding captive breeding as a
conservation tool (for Kemp's ridleys, hawksbills or any other longlived
species) on CTURTLE rather than individually because the same questions
keep coming up again and again.
        Captive breeding and/or headstarting are costly and highly questionable
tools for conservation of any species, especially long-lived species and
especially in the absense of addressing and removing the threats which
endangered the species in the beginning.  The true measures of success
are the relative survivorship AND reproductive output of the captive
reared animals versus those of animals raised in the wild.  And no one
has measured those for any captive rearing sea turtle project, ever,
although some efforts are currently being made to determine such values
for the US/Mexican Kemp's ridley headstarting project at this late date.
        I am attaching some comments I made to the Maylasian government last
year when a posting on CUTRTLE indicated they planned to start a
head-starting project.  For anybody seriously interested in this issue,
or considering such a project, I strongly urge reading Eckert et al.
1992, Donnelly 1994, Frazer 1992, and Heppell et al. 1996.  The full
cites for each of these are found in the attachment.

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Deborah Crouse, Ph.D.
Senior Conservation Scientist         (ph)      202/429-5609
Center for Marine Conservation       (FAX)    202/872-0619
1725 DeSales St., NW, #600          (email)  [log in to unmask]
Washington, DC  20036
USA