Ex situ conservation

Ex situ conservation protects species outside their natural habitats, using managed facilities or other controlled settings to maintain populations, genetic material, or viable propagules.

Captive breeding: The controlled reproduction of animals outside their natural habitats to maintain or increase populations. Breeding programs can raise population size and supply animals for reintroduction.
Species reintroduction: The deliberate release of a species into part of its former range or another suitable area. Reintroduction can return ex situ populations to habitats where they have disappeared.
In situ conservation: The protection of species within their natural habitats and ecological communities. It preserves species in the ecosystems that ex situ programs can only partly reproduce.
Genetic drift: Random changes in allele frequencies across generations, especially pronounced in small populations. Small captive populations can lose genetic diversity through chance alone.
Seed bank: A facility that stores seeds under controlled conditions to preserve plant genetic diversity. Seed banks preserve many plant species in compact, often long-lived collections.
European bison: A large wild bovine native to Europe that survived near extinction through captive breeding and reintroduction. Its recovery illustrates how captive breeding can contribute to restoring a wild population.
Habitat restoration: The process of assisting the recovery of degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems. Restored habitat is often needed before conserved organisms can survive after release.
Inbreeding depression: Reduced biological fitness caused by mating between related individuals. Limited founder populations can increase relatedness and reduce reproductive success.
Cryopreservation: The preservation of cells, tissues, or reproductive material at very low temperatures. Freezing gametes or embryos can retain genetic material beyond an animal's lifespan.
Arabian oryx: A desert antelope that became extinct in the wild before captive-bred animals were reintroduced. Its return to the wild became a landmark example of ex situ recovery.

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