Painstakingly laying the groundwork ahead of releasing animals in a new area might not be the most charismatic element of conservation, but it is key.

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“In 1926, the last wolf pack in Yellowstone was wiped out.

Without its top predator,the Yellowstone ecosystem was thrown out of balance. Elk numbers soared andthey over-grazed the plant life. This had knock-on effects throughout theecosystem and reduced biodivesity.

It was time to bring back the wolves.” Sir David Attenborough*

The reintroduction of grey wolves to Yellowstone National Parkin 1995 is one of the best known examples of the reintroduction of a species to an area where it had become locally extinct. The reintroduced wolves had a profound impact on the entire ecosystem of the park, as they were once again able to perform their role as a keystone species in the food web; “The wolves had brought order back to the entire ecosystem.”*

Today, as we are coming to better and better appreciate the impact on the whole ecosystem of species loss and the importance of protecting biodiversity, reintroduction and translocation are ever more vital tools for species conservation. They typically involve releasing captive bred animals into the wild, or moving a group of wild individuals to a new or historic location. This must be done with care and caution, especially when it comes to controlling disease and considering the impact on both the introduced animals and on other wildlife and people at the release site. Planning even a small reintroduction can take months or years, and the production of a comprehensive Disease Risk Assessment (DRA) is a vital part of the process. Translocation and reintroduction is one of the three pillars, alongside Disease Surveillance and Conservation Rehabilitation, on which the work of WVI is based.

‍Saving Ghana’s Endangered PrimatesWVI has been partnering with West African PrimateConservation Action (WAPCA) since 2020, as they work towards being in a position to release a number of currently captive white-naped mangabeys into the wild. WAPCA is responsible for two groups of captive mangabeys; one at the capital’s AccraZoo and one at Kumasi Zoo, which is 250km inland. The potential release site isclose to Kumasi Zoo. The animals would live in community-managed forest, andwould help augment the remaining wild population.

Officially Endangered, there are an estimated 1000 white-naped mangabeys left in the wild. Where they were once widespread in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Bukina Faso, they are now found only in increasingly isolated pockets of forest. Their decline over the last forty years is due largely to deforestation and hunting. When animals are confined to small islands of habitat, an outbreak of disease can quickly wipe out a population. 

“Personally, I think this is a brilliant project, and very achievable. This is a species which is now really at risk of extinction. It’s about veterinary training and education, as well as ground-breaking epidemiology. We could gather all sorts of virology information on mangabeys – something that has just not been done before. And it’s got that rare element –the possibility of being able to return captive animals to the wild.”‍.  Matthew Rendle RVN

The Role of WVI

WVI is providing veterinary support to the project, including the production of the initial Disease Rick Assessment by our Veterinary Advisor, Dr Jane Hopper. Very little is currently known about what diseases affect mangabeys. The DRA is a living document, which will be used to guide each step of the reintroduction. This is vital to guard against the possibility that the mangabeys could either introduce new diseases at the release site, or contract them from other wildlife.

As the project progresses, vet nurse Matthew Rendle is providing on-going remote support to the Ghanaian veterinary and keeper team, and makes at least one in-person visit a year. In 2021 Matt took with him a bespoke clinical examination kit – essentially a repurposed ambulance parabag – stuffed with useful equipment and supplies. Inside were collection kits for health screening, instruments for checking eyes, ears and mouths in order to identify any problems, and basic anaesthetic and first aid equipment – the use of which Matt was able to demonstrate to local veterinary staff. The following year, he was able to provide the team at Accra Zoo with a bespoke post mortem kit, and comprehensive practical training in how to use it. It might not seem like the most romantic aspect of wildlife medicine, but it is a particularly vital one. Proper disease surveillance and risk assessment is crucial to any conservation effort that may involve reintroduction of a species back into the wild, and knowing exactly why individual animals have died is a vital part of that process.

What Next? Matt is expecting to return to Ghana this year to carry out essential health screening for ten captive mangabeys at the Kumasi site, which will mitigate against risks identified by the DRA. This will not only bring the animals a step closer to potential release, but will be an invaluable opportunity to continue to train and build the veterinary capacity of the local team. Fecal and blood samples will be collected, and dental assessments carried out. All findings will be documented and will be used to produce protocols for future procedures. WVI would like to see this published so that other NGO’s and conservationists can use the format and content.

Earlier Work on Reintroduction: The Amur leopard

‍The reintroduction of the Critically Endangered Amur leopard to new territory in the Russian Far East has been under discussion since WVI was founded in 2004.

WVI worked closely with with Russian vets and biologists after the idea was first proposed in the 2000s in order to maximise the chances of success of what is still likely to be the first large carnivore reintroduction of its kind. There have been many bumps along the road and international cooperation is no longer possible as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, meaning the original plan to release the ‘wilded’ offspring of carefully selected captive bred leopards from international zoos is on hold. However, a first three wild leopards have now been translocated from the core population in the Land of the Leopard National Parkin the Russian Far East to historic territory in the Ussuriski Nature Reserve.

As part of the essential preparations for this historic initiative, WVI founder, the late Dr. John Lewis, and WVI Veterinary Partner and epidemiologist, Dr. AlexTomlinson, compiled a comprehensively researched Disease Risk Assessment (DRA) which looks at all the possible threats from disease which could affect both wild and reintroduced leopards in future years. It also considers risks that the reintroduction might pose to other wildlife, domestic animals and humans in the area, and how these can be mitigated. Compiling the DRA was an enormous task, involving the analysis of data collected over many years and from many different sources. It is the first of its kind for a big cat and its publication in 2017 marked an important milestone in the reintroduction plan. It will also act as a blueprint for future reintroductions of large carnivores in other places

Wildlife vet, Dr Mikhail Goncharuk, pictured here with the Russian edition of the Disease Risk Assessment, was mentored by Dr. John Lewis for many years; Misha is in turn disseminating his knowledge in Kazakhstan, where he is advising on disease surveillance and sampling for the planned translocation of Amur tigers, which it’s hoped will be able to fill the ecological niche left by the extinct Caspian tiger.

‍Scottish pine martens emigrate to Wales while choughsreturn to KentCloser to home, WVI partnered with the Vincent WildlifeTrust in the UK to provide veterinary support for the recent translocation of over 50 Scottish pine martens to historic habitat in Wales. This entailed advising on the project’s Disease Risk Assessment, as well as carrying out essential health checks before each small group of martens set out on their journey south. Most recently, WVI developed a Disease Risk Assessment and carried out annual health checks (the results of which are fed back into theDRA) for the planned reintroduction of captive-bred red-billed choughs to Kent, in collaboration with the Wildwood Trust. The reintroduction is progressing, with some birds having been ‘soft released’ but recalled to aviaries at night, although strong winds and poor weather conditions delayed the full release. Nevertheless, it shouldn’t be long before these charismatic corvids are once again flying overthe White Cliffs of Dover for the first time in 200 years.

The vital veterinary groundwork that needs to be put in place before any reintroduction or translocation can take place might not be the most charismatic or glamourous aspect of species conservation, but it is an absolutely vital one. For more detail on the broader considerations involved, delve into the IUCN Guidelines for Reintroduction and other ConservationTranslocations (2013).