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Orangutan SSP Program Overview
Lori Perkins, Director of Animal Programs, Zoo
Atlanta
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The Long Haul!

• Long-term health of the populations
• Long-term well-being of individuals
• Long-term commitments to and partnerships for
  education and conservation

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What are SSPs?

• Purpose To manage the breeding of captive
  populations to maintain healthy, self-sustaining
  populations that are both genetically diverse and
  demographically stable
• Mission to help ensure the survival of species
  into the future and to provide a link between zoo
  animals and the conservation of their wild
  counterparts

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Species Survival Plan

• Species Coordinator
• Steering Committee
• Institutional Representatives
• Appointed Advisors
• Education
• Field Conservation
• Veterinary
• Husbandry
• Contraception
• Nutrition

All are Volunteers
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SSP Management Responsibilities
GENETICS (population)
BEHAVIOR (individuals)
PROGRAMMATIC (institutions)
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Population Management

• Orangutans are
• individuals
• members of a group
• members of a population

Ignoring the needs of one level may have negative
consequences for the others
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The SSP Population (N210, 52 zoos)
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Bornean census by birth origin
TOTAL
CAPTIVE BORN
WILD BORN
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Sumatran census by birth origin
TOTAL
CAPTIVE BORN
WILD BORN
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Age Pyramids
Bornean
Sumatran
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Mean Kinship

• An individuals relatedness to the rest of the
  population
• High MK over-represented, many relatives
• decrease in genetic diversity
• Low MK under-represented, few relatives
• increase in genetic diversity

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Effects of poor population management

• increased health problems
• decreased infant survival
• increased stillbirth rate
• decreased genetic diversity
• uneven age distribution ? future breeding and
  social dynamics

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Loss of GD over Time
BASED ON MEAN KINSHIP
RANDOM BREEDING
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Bornean Genetic Summary (2006) Bornean Genetic Summary (2006)
Founders 47
Gene Diversity Retained () 97.38
Population Mean Kinship 0.0266
Founder Genome Equiv. 19.11
Diversity at 100 Years () 90
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Sumatran Genetic Summary (2006) Sumatran Genetic Summary (2006)
Founders 57
Gene Diversity Retained () 98.08
Population Mean Kinship 0.0191
Founder Genome Equiv. 26.04
Diversity at 100 Years () 90
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REGARDLESS OF GENETIC VALUE, NO ORANGUTAN IS
SURPLUS TO THE SSP POPULATION
The SSP is committed to maintaining all
orangutans for the duration of their natural
lives
We do not recommend transfer of orangutans to
non-accredited facilities or to sanctuaries
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SSP Management Responsibilities
GENETICS (population)
BEHAVIOR (individuals)
PROGRAMMATIC (institutions)
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Husbandry and Individual Well-Being

• Population-level management does not occur in a
  vacuum
• The well-being of the individual and the social
  group is always a critical factor

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SSP Recommendations

• Breeding recommendations
• allow individuals the opportunity to reproduce
• removal of birth control
• Transfer recommendations
• movement of individual from one institution to
  another
• may or may not be for breeding

Genetic considerations are only one of many
factors used in recommendations
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Facilities
Quarantine space
Ability to house males
Ability to hold offspring for long-term
Age and quality of exhibits and holding
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Social Considerations
Need for solitude (or not)
Male management
Accommodation of long childhood
Female relationships
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Individual Characteristics
Age
Behavioral issues
Rearing history
Disability or disease issues
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Husbandry

• Husbandry Advisor provides advice and assistance
  to institutions
• introductions
• facility design
• birth management
• Advancing animal welfare standards
• Standardized Guidelines
• Husbandry Manual (www.brookfieldzoo.org/OHM)

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SSP Management Responsibilities
GENETICS (population)
BEHAVIOR (individuals)
PROGRAMMATIC (institutions)
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Programs and collaborations

• Cooperation among participants
• Developing consistent (and effective!)
  educational messaging across zoos
• Enabling collective (and effective!) zoo action
  to address the conservation crisis

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Whats Next?

• Continue to manage towards stable populations
• Advance opportunities for accommodating males
• Develop innovative ways to promote education and
  effect conservation