Reintroducing Tiger Salamanders

[MountainMan]

So In Pennsylvania the tiger salamander is considered extirpated, meaning locally extinct in the state. Records indicate that suitable habitat was found in Chester County. I couldn't find any records however of actual tiger salamanders being caught in the state. However I am sure that at some point they did occur here. So what would it take to reintroduce this species? How would I go about doing it?

 

[Kaysie]

Reintroduction a complicated topic and is not to be taken lightly. It is (or should be) an extremely exacting science.

For one, you need to examine why they're extirpated. Pollution? Habitat loss? Poaching? Take axolotls for example. They're practically extinct in the wild, and there's no chance of reintroduction because their habitat is gone. It just simply does not exist any more, there is no place to put them.

A couple of examples from my home state of Michigan: Marbled salamanders are listed as threatened, and probably extirpated. They only found one specimen, 70 years ago, and that was their basis for the species existing in Michigan. Also, lesser sirens are considered extirpated, although only a small handful were collected, and they may well have been dumped as bait. These species may well not be native to Michigan, and reintroduction of them would be moot.

You'd need tigers with appropriate genetic makeup. You couldn't use just any ol' tiger salamander. That means you'd have to have animals that are from the area, and breed them. That's extremely difficult in itself. I'd say about a dozen people world-wide have bred tiger salamanders reliably.

Then you'd have to have an appropriate number to prevent any genetic bottlenecks. Most scientists agree that you need 500-5000 individuals to have a viable (albeit very fragile) population. These all need to be absolutely free of any contagious diseases that may infect existing amphibian populations.

And finally, even if you had all of these bases covered, there's no way to guarantee your tigers will breed in the ponds you released them. They may all simply die off over time and cease to exist. Again.

Please don't take it into your own hands to reintroduce animals. Many people have done things with good intentions (red eared sliders, anyone?), and have created huge problems.

 

[FrogEyes]

Kaysie covered most of the points I would have made, but the first I would mention is that introducing ANY animal to the wild is generally illegal.

 

[MountainMan]

So even if the animal is historically native to a certain area it would still be illlegal to reintroduce? I have a buddy who has around 100 acres.....many fishless ponds and sandy soil plus some very deep woods. I am considering doing some kind of breeding program...

 

[Azhael]

Yes, they would still be illegal to reintroduce and with very good reason. In most areas (if not all?) it would be illegal even if the species was locally abundant.
As Kaysie has carefully pointed out, there are many things to consider when reintroducing animals and only official organisms are likely to be able to obtain the permits and have access to the necessary equipment and data to do it right. It´s far more complicated than simply breeding animals and releasing them in areas that are suspected of being adequate. It also has to be said that even if you were using the right breeding stock, being able to ensure they are free of pathogens and everything else that needs to be considered, it would still be very difficult to succeed in any breeding attempts as this species is notoriously difficult to breed in captivity.
I sympathize with your desire to help, but what you are suggesting is emphatically NOT the way to do it. You could do a lot more harm than good.

I would suggest trying to find out if any official reintroduction plans exist and if they are looking for volunteers for one type of activity or another.

 

[Ominojacu]

I don't think reintroduction is all that difficult, however it should not be done. First the danger is that there may well be a very small hidden population and your reintroduced salamanders could wipe out centuries of evolution. That is the biggest tragedy and the number one reason in my book for why you would not want to do this. Secondly it is illegal, probably for just this reason. But just as hypothetical discussion the way to reintroduce a species is to follow mother natures example, introduce eggs or recently hatched larva, most will not make it but the few that do will have the best genes for reproducing the next generation. You would have to do this many times before a breeding population would be established. Do not ever release captive raised adults, basically that is cheating mother nature and can have disastrous consequences, as mentioned earlier the unproven adults will mate with existing populations and produce possibly unfit offspring. Being able to survive from egg to adult is what proves that your offspring have what it takes to survive. Our typical conservation usually ignores this fact allowing larger animals to be taken while banning smaller ones, see fish and crabs for example, the truth is that large proven breeders are the ones you want to protect, not the unproven offspring.