Captive Breeding

By: Jason Abels – Assistant Director www.tigerhomes.org Animal Sanctuary

Captive Breeding is one of the best ways to insure the future existence of any animal or plant. Although the Tiger Homes Animal Sanctuary is primarily an Educational Web Site priding ourselves with our “State Of The Art” ANIMAL WEB CAMS, we do like to write about an assortment of conservational subjects in our “Education Center”. CLICK HERE TO SEE ANIMAL WEBCAMS

Captive Breeding - Picture of a Baby Alligator

The concept of Captive Breeding goes way back and with the exception of actual Habitat Protection it is most likely the single best way to insure that the remaining wild plants and animals will be around for future generations to enjoy, learn from and potentially derive future medications from. One of the best examples of a Captive Breeding Program can be seen with the American Alligator. Years ago this Prehistoric Reptile was listed as an Endangered Species. Today there are over 1 million of them residing in the Florida Everglades alone. The answer to this super fast remarkable comeback can be found in a very surprising place, Alligator Farms. Through extensive research, Alligator Farms were the 1st to discover the many Animal Husbandry Techniques specific to maintaining and Breeding Crocodilians. For example, they were the 1st to discover that the Incubation Temperature of the Alligator Eggs controlled the gender of the Baby Alligators. Through their research they also discovered that these Endangered Reptiles also required a belly temperature of minimally 83 degrees to activate Digestive Enzymes to properly digest their food. Although their research was motivated by profit, Alligator Farms are the true heroes in bringing this species back from near extinction. Since the creation of the Endangered Species Act, no other animal has made such a remarkable comeback in the face of Extinction. In a weird way, the purchase of Alligator Products such as Alligator Skin or Hides and even the Alligator Meat actually helped to save this species. If the Gator Farms could not sell these Captive Raised Alligator Products they could not fund their captive breeding and there would not have existed the motivation to save the symbol of The Everglades. It is a shame that money is the primary motivating factor, but it typically is.

More Information / Continue
Page 2 - Captive Breeding for the Reptile Pet Industry >>
Page 3 - Captive Breeding Endangered Species and Genetic Management >>
Page 4 - Captive Lemur Breeding if Habitat Space is Available >>
Page 5 - Captive Breeding Handled by Experts in the Field of Animal Husbandry >>

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