Flint Jaylene, Flint Mark, Limpus Colin James, Mills Paul
Veterinary-Marine Animal Research, Teaching and Investigation (Vet-MARTI) Unit, School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland, Australia; Center for Conservation, The Florida Aquarium, Apollo Beach, FL, United States of America.
Veterinary-Marine Animal Research, Teaching and Investigation (Vet-MARTI) Unit, School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland, Australia; School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Apollo Beach, FL, United States of America.
PeerJ. 2017 Mar 28;5:e3132. doi: 10.7717/peerj.3132. eCollection 2017.
Rehabilitation of marine turtles in Queensland has multifaceted objectives. It treats individual animals, serves to educate the public, and contributes to conservation. We examined the outcome from rehabilitation, time in rehabilitation, and subsequent recapture and restranding rates of stranded marine turtles between 1996 and 2013 to determine if the benefits associated with this practice are cost-effective as a conservation tool. Of 13,854 marine turtles reported as stranded during this 18-year period, 5,022 of these turtles were stranded alive with the remainder verified as dead or of unknown condition. A total of 2,970 (59%) of these live strandings were transported to a rehabilitation facility. Overall, 1,173/2,970 (39%) turtles were released over 18 years, 101 of which were recaptured: 77 reported as restrandings (20 dead, 13 alive subsequently died, 11 alive subsequently euthanized, 33 alive) and 24 recaptured during normal marine turtle population monitoring or fishing activities. Of the turtles admitted to rehabilitation exhibiting signs of disease, 88% of them died, either unassisted or by euthanasia and 66% of turtles admitted for unknown causes of stranding died either unassisted or by euthanasia. All turtles recorded as having a buoyancy disorder with no other presenting problem or disorder recorded, were released alive. In Queensland, rehabilitation costs approximately $1,000 per animal per year admitted to a center, $2,583 per animal per year released, and $123,750 per animal per year for marine turtles which are presumably successfully returned to the functional population. This practice may not be economically viable in its present configuration, but may be more cost effective as a mobile response unit. Further there is certainly benefit giving individual turtles a chance at survival and educating the public in the perils facing marine turtles. As well, rehabilitation can provide insight into the diseases and environmental stressors causing stranding, arming researchers with information to mitigate negative impacts.
昆士兰州的海龟康复工作具有多方面的目标。它旨在治疗个体海龟、服务于公众教育并为保护工作做出贡献。我们研究了1996年至2013年间搁浅海龟的康复结果、康复时间以及后续的重新捕获和再次搁浅率，以确定这种做法作为一种保护工具所带来的益处是否具有成本效益。在这18年期间报告的13854只搁浅海龟中，有5022只海龟活着搁浅，其余的经核实已死亡或状况不明。这些活海龟中共有2970只（59%）被送往康复机构。总体而言，在18年里共有1173只/2970只（39%）海龟被放归自然，其中101只被重新捕获：77只被报告为再次搁浅（20只死亡，13只存活但随后死亡，11只存活但随后被安乐死，33只存活），24只在正常的海龟种群监测或捕鱼活动中被重新捕获。在 admitted to rehabilitation exhibiting signs of disease 中，88%的海龟死亡，要么是自然死亡，要么是被安乐死；66%因不明搁浅原因被送往康复机构的海龟要么是自然死亡，要么是被安乐死。所有被记录为患有浮力障碍且没有其他明显问题或疾病的海龟均被放归自然。在昆士兰州，送往康复中心的每只海龟每年的康复成本约为1000美元，放归自然的每只海龟每年成本为2583美元，而对于那些可能成功回归正常种群的海龟，每年每只的成本为123750美元。这种做法在目前的形式下可能在经济上不可行，但作为一个移动响应单位可能更具成本效益。此外，给予个体海龟生存机会并向公众宣传海龟面临的危险肯定是有益的。同样，康复工作可以深入了解导致搁浅的疾病和环境压力因素，为研究人员提供信息以减轻负面影响。
