Wildlife conservation and animal temperament: causes and consequences of evolutionary change for captive, reintroduced, and wild populations

• Published in: Animal conservation Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 39 - 48
• Main Authors: McDougall, P.T, Réale, D, Sol, D, Reader, S.M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Science Ltd 01.02.2006
• Subjects: animal temperament; artificial selection; captive animals; captivity; contemporary evolution; disease transmission; domestication; environmental enrichment; genetic traits; habitat fragmentation; monitoring; morphs; personality; reintroductions; reproduction; risk; shy-bold; temperament; wildlife management

We argue that animal temperament is an important concept for wildlife conservation science and review causes and consequences of evolutionary changes in temperament traits that may occur in captive-breeding programmes. An evolutionary perspective is valid because temperament traits are heritable, li...