Who Runs Captive Breeding Programs And What Kind Of Animals Are Bred?

Many captive breeding programs are run as zoo breeding programs from the American Zoo and Aquarium office in the USA or from the parallel zoo organizations in other regions such as the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and the Australasian Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums.

There are also some programs run by governmental agencies and other organizations - such as the program in Spain for the Iberian Lynx, and the programs in the US (run by USFWS) for black-footed ferrets and Puerto Rican Parrots.

A few examples of well managed and successful programs include the golden lion tamarins, the California condors, the Mexican wolves and the red wolves. The two latter species have both been brought back from the brink of extinction through captive breeding programs. A few years ago, captive breeding of peregrine falcons provided the birds that allowed the restoration of the species in many sites in the eastern USA.