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Rebecca Spindler (born in Melbourne) is the head of science and conservation at non-profit conservation organisation Bush Heritage Australia. She previously was the manager of research and conservation at Taronga Conservation Society Australia, in the New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH).
Spindler's PhD on marsupial reproduction at the University of Melbourne led her to the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. There, Rebecca managed a laboratory and integrated reproduction, her own area of expertise with other disciplines of science to conserve species. She spent five giant panda breeding seasons in the Wolong Nature Reserve, coordinating the Smithsonian's Giant Panda and Wild China Programmes. [1] During this same period she established the Neotropical Carnivore Initiative and with colleagues throughout the Americas, embarking on a multidisciplinary program aimed at improving the health, reproduction and conservation of jaguars. [2] In 2007, she joined the team at Taronga as manager of research and conservation, coordinating and facilitating the research of the zoo science team investigating wildlife health, ecology, behaviour, reproduction, genetics and nutrition. Spindler also helped Taronga protect species and their habitats through the Taronga Field Conservation Grants. [3]
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The giant panda, also known as the panda bear, is a bear native to South Central China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes used to distinguish it from the red panda, a neighboring musteloid. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the giant panda is a folivore, with bamboo shoots and leaves making up more than 99% of its diet. Giant pandas in the wild will occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents, or carrion. In captivity, they may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared food.
The red panda is a carnivoran native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List because the wild population is estimated at fewer than 10,000 mature individuals and continues to decline due to habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, and inbreeding depression. Despite its name, it is not closely related to the giant panda.
Ex situ conservation literally means, "off-site conservation". It is the process of protecting an endangered species, variety or breed, of plant or animal outside its natural habitat; for example, by removing part of the population from a threatened habitat and placing it in a new location, an artificial environment which is similar to the natural habitat of the respective animal and within the care of humans, example are zoological parks and wildlife safaris. The degree to which humans control or modify the natural dynamics of the managed population varies widely, and this may include alteration of living environments, reproductive patterns, access to resources, and protection from predation and mortality. Ex situ management can occur within or outside a species' natural geographic range. Individuals maintained ex situ exist outside an ecological niche. This means that they are not under the same selection pressures as wild populations, and they may undergo artificial selection if maintained ex situ for multiple generations.
The tammar wallaby, also known as the dama wallaby or darma wallaby, is a small macropod native to South and Western Australia. Though its geographical range has been severely reduced since European colonisation, the tammar wallaby remains common within its reduced range and is listed as "Least Concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It has been introduced to New Zealand and reintroduced to some areas of Australia where it had been previously eradicated. Skull variations differentiate between tammar wallabies from Western Australia, Kangaroo Island, and mainland South Australia, making them distinct population groups.
Embryonic diapause is a reproductive strategy used by approximately 100 different mammals in seven or eight different orders. In embryonic diapause, the embryonic blastocyst does not immediately implant in the uterus after sexual reproduction has created the zygote, but rather remains in a state of dormancy. Little to no development takes place while the embryo remains unattached to the uterine wall. As a result, the normal gestation period is extended for a species-specific time. While much of the molecular regulation involved in activating dormant blastocysts has been characterized, little is still known about entry into diapause, and the conditions which enable a blastocyst to remain dormant.
Embryo transfer refers to a step in the process of assisted reproduction in which embryos are placed into the uterus of a female with the intent to establish a pregnancy. This technique, may be used in humans or in animals, in which situations the goals may vary.
Semen collection refers to the process of obtaining semen from human males or other animals with the use of various methods, for the purposes of artificial insemination, or medical study. Semen can be collected via masturbation, prostate massage, artificial vagina, penile vibratory stimulation (vibroejaculation) and electroejaculation. Semen can be collected from endangered species for cryopreservation of genetic resources.
The tufted deer is a small species of deer characterized by a prominent tuft of black hair on its forehead and fang-like canines for the males. It is a close relative of the muntjac, living somewhat further north over a wide area of central China northeastern Myanmar. Suffering from overhunting and habitat loss, this deer is considered near-threatened. It is the only member of the genus Elaphodus. It is restricted to forested mountain habitat up to 4500 m above sea level, making study difficult.
The estrous cycle is the set of recurring physiological changes that are induced by reproductive hormones in most mammalian therian females. Estrous cycles start after sexual maturity in females and are interrupted by anestrous phases, otherwise known as "rest" phases, or by pregnancies. Typically, estrous cycles repeat until death. These cycles are widely variable in duration and frequency depending on the species. Some animals may display bloody vaginal discharge, often mistaken for menstruation. Many mammals used in commercial agriculture, such as cattle and sheep, may have their estrous cycles artificially controlled with hormonal medications for optimum productivity. Naturally, estrous cycles are complemented by a rutting period of male counterparts within a species.
Captive breeding, also known as "captive propagation", is the process of maintaining plants or animals in controlled environments, such as wildlife reserves, zoos, botanic gardens, and other conservation facilities. It is sometimes employed to help species that are being threatened by human activities such as habitat loss, fragmentation, over hunting or fishing, pollution, predation, disease, and parasitism. In some cases a captive breeding program can save a species from extinction, but for success, breeders must consider many factors—including genetic, ecological, behavioral, and ethical issues. Most successful attempts involve the cooperation and coordination of many institutions.
Robert Hermes, DVM, Ph.D.(born November 15, 1969 in Celle, Germany) is a veterinarian researcher at The Leibniz-Institute of Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin. He studied veterinary medicine at the Freie Universität Berlin. He completed a Ph.D. in reproductive management.
The Cheetah Conservation Fund is a research and lobby institution in Namibia concerned with the study and sustenance of the country's cheetah population, the largest and healthiest in the world. Its Research and Education Centre is located 44 kilometres (27 mi) east of Otjiwarongo. The CCF was founded in 1990 by conservation biologist Laurie Marker who won the 2010 Tyler Prize for her efforts in Namibia.
In vitro maturation (IVM) is the technique of letting the contents of ovarian follicles and the oocytes inside mature in vitro. It can be offered to women with infertility problems, combined with IVF, offering women pregnancy without ovarian stimulation.
Interspecific pregnancy is the pregnancy involving an embryo or fetus belonging to another species than the carrier. Strictly, it excludes the situation where the fetus is a hybrid of the carrier and another species, thereby excluding the possibility that the carrier is the biological mother of the offspring. Strictly, interspecific pregnancy is also distinguished from endoparasitism, where parasite offspring grow inside the organism of another species, not necessarily in the womb.
Cryopreservation of embryos is the process of preserving an embryo at sub-zero temperatures, generally at an embryogenesis stage corresponding to pre-implantation, that is, from fertilisation to the blastocyst stage.
JoGayle Dillon Howard (1951–2011) was an American zoologist and theriogenologist specializing in the captive breeding of endangered species such as pandas, clouded leopards, and black-footed ferrets.
Justine K. O'Brien, an Australian zoologist, is best known for her use of reproductive research to assist in wildlife management and conservation.
Janine L. Brown is a scientist specializing in the reproductive biology of endangered species. She is the head of the National Zoological Park's Endocrine Research Laboratory at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. Brown has been called "a world authority on elephant reproductive biology" and is in charge of the elephant reproduction program at the National Zoological Park.
Terri Lynn Roth is the vice president of conservation and science at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. Additionally, she is the director of the Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW). She has made several breakthroughs in the captive breeding of Sumatran rhinoceroses, a critically endangered species with fewer than 300 left.
David Edwin Wildt was an American wildlife biologist, who worked at the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) for almost 40 years. He pioneered research in wildlife reproductive physiology, and became instrumental in rescuing species which would have otherwise gone extinct due to dwindling population sizes. The species he may have helped "save" from extinction included cheetahs, lions, African antelopes, black-footed ferrets, while his work included first time artificial inseminations of the clouded leopard, puma, snow leopard, tiger, Eld's deer, scimitar-horned oryx, Persian onager, and the Przewalski's horse.