Releasing rescued animals back into the wild can be 'a death trap'
Wildlife releases are usually joyous events. Uplifting scenes of animals cautiously nosing the air as they take their first tentative steps into freedom warm our hearts. However, new research suggests the wild can be a “death trap,” especially if the released individuals lack the essential skills to find food and integrate with wild populations, or are set free into unsuitable habitat.
The new study, published in Global Ecology and Conservation, follows the fate of nine Bengal slow lorises (Nycticebus bengalensis) released into a forest reserve in Bangladesh. The researchers found only two of the nine survived beyond six months. Several died within days or weeks.
A 2019 review of 293 case studies of these “conservation translocations” found similar fates have befallen kangaroos, rats, black rhinoceros, Indian leopards, and primates.
A co-author of the new study wrote in The Conversation that “as appealing as it is to put animals back to the wild, for many species, their only hope may truly be a lifetime in captivity.”