ANIMALS - Wildlife Conservation in China: Preserving the Habitat of China's Wild West - page 82

in its budget plan of 2000, is associated with captive animals in some way (see Figure
4.1). 17 During the five-year period of 2000-2005, the SFA proposed spending ¥235 mil-
lion (and asking provinces to provide an additional ¥175 million) on captive breeding
facilities for the newly designated fifteen “key species” alone (with an additional ¥310
million in combined funds to be spent during the next ten-year period). 18
With increasing population and wealth (but little if any discernible reduction in the
per capita demand for wildlife products), SFA, the central government's principal agency
dealing with wildlife, has recently emphasized sustainability as a principle. 19 There is
little doubt from published government documents, however, that the sustainability en-
visioned is of the populations of these species in captivity. A circular published in 2003
clarifies that management of consumptively used species is to follow a list of species,
all of which are protected from take in the wild, but all of which are produced on farms
or breeding centers. 20
WHY BREED WILD SPECIES IN CAPTIVITY?
If I have criticized the Chinese for their lack of clarity in specifying objectives for captive
breeding, it behooves me to provide some clarity of my own. I can identify four distinctly
valid rationales for raising wild animals artificially, outlined below, and each has a slightly
different relationship with in situ conservation. Chinese use all four rationales—sometimes
simultaneously for an individual animal—but there is so much confusion and conflation
among them that it becomes difficult to assess the success of any given program, suggest
how it might be improved if doing poorly, or even develop an opinion as to whether the
program is beneficial or detrimental to wildlife. If we first identify the possible objectives,
we can begin to assess Chinese captive breeding programs.
Most directly connected with conservation of wild species is captive propagation spe-
cifically for purposes of reintroduction into the wild. In China, this rationale is explicitly
stated as the reason for breeding Pere David's deer, Przewalski's gazelle, saiga antelope,
Yangtze alligators, and Przewalski's horse, among other species.
A second rationale for captive breeding is for educational and research purposes.
Captives bred under this rationale are primarily found in zoos or specific research facili-
ties, and play a support role to their wild relatives, helping scientists understand how to
better conserve them in the wild and raising awareness and support for them among the
populace at large. The contribution of zoo animals to wild conservation is indirect: there
is no expectation that these individuals will ever live under wild conditions.
A third objective in breeding wild species artificially is commerce. By this I do not
mean to condemn the practice as unworthy or to devalue traditional Chinese use of ani-
mal parts: many of mankind's enterprises that are hardly optional (such as raising crops
or building houses) are primarily commercial in nature. But commercial propagation of
wild species aims to meet a market demand, thereby pleasing customers and making a
profit for producers. In intent, it is entirely neutral with regard to conservation of those
same species in the wild. In the West, fur-bearing animals such as mink and red fox are
routinely raised in captivity for their pelts rather than for any particular conservation