Clark Fay E, Greggor Alison L, Montgomery Stephen H, Plotnik Joshua M
School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Escondido, CA, USA.
R Soc Open Sci. 2023 Aug 30;10(8):230707. doi: 10.1098/rsos.230707. eCollection 2023 Aug.
Endangered species have small, unsustainable population sizes that are geographically or genetically restricted. conservation programmes are therefore faced with the challenge of breeding sufficiently sized, genetically diverse populations earmarked for reintroduction that have the behavioural skills to survive and breed in the wild. Yet, maintaining historically beneficial behaviours may be insufficient, as research continues to suggest that certain cognitive-behavioural skills and flexibility are necessary to cope with human-induced rapid environmental change (HIREC). This paper begins by reviewing interdisciplinary studies on the 'captivity effect' in laboratory, farmed, domesticated and feral vertebrates and finds that captivity imposes rapid yet often reversible changes to the brain, cognition and behaviour. However, research on this effect in conservation sites is lacking. This paper reveals an apparent mismatch between enrichment aims and the cognitive-behavioural skills possessed by animals currently coping with HIREC. After synthesizing literature across neuroscience, behavioural biology, comparative cognition and field conservation, it seems that endangered species deemed for reintroduction may have better chances of coping with HIREC if their natural cognition and behavioural repertoires are actively preserved. Evaluating the effects of environmental challenges rather than captivity is recommended, in addition to using targeted cognitive enrichment.
濒危物种的种群规模较小且不可持续，在地理上或基因上受到限制。因此，保护计划面临着培育足够规模、基因多样的种群用于重新引入的挑战，这些种群需要具备在野外生存和繁殖的行为技能。然而，仅仅维持历史上有益的行为可能并不够，因为研究不断表明，某些认知行为技能和灵活性对于应对人类引起的快速环境变化（HIREC）是必要的。本文首先回顾了关于实验室、养殖、驯化和野生脊椎动物中“圈养效应”的跨学科研究，发现圈养会给大脑、认知和行为带来迅速但通常可逆的变化。然而，在保护地点对这种效应的研究却很缺乏。本文揭示了丰富化目标与当前应对HIREC的动物所具备的认知行为技能之间明显的不匹配。在综合了神经科学、行为生物学、比较认知和野外保护等方面的文献后，似乎如果积极保留濒危物种的自然认知和行为模式，那么被考虑重新引入的濒危物种应对HIREC的机会可能会更大。除了使用有针对性的认知丰富化方法外，建议评估环境挑战而非圈养的影响。
