AEfx
Well-Known Member
This hippo was born as part of the SSP - Species Survival Plan, an international effort working to preserve the genetic diversity of species. The sad fact is that hippos, and other large mammals who live in limited ranges and have long birth spans, such as the great apes, are not going to survive in the wild as a species for many more generations. It is pretty much a done deal at this point. Even in places where they are now "protected" in preserves and sanctuaries, and even in places where human hunting has been curtailed (though it still exists most everywhere as to keep them out requires actual human ranger patrols and protection).
The loss of habitat has just gone too far, and the looming problem is genetic diversity. Most of the animals, like the hippos, are effectively in captivity now even in their "ancestral homes". Even where the populations are "safe" (or "safer") for the moment, the populations have been divided into patches of habitat that they cannot naturally emigrate from because of human habitation. This is causing their genetic pools to erode.
So even if we manage to keep these areas protected (which with the constant political unrest in many of these places is a nearly impossible task to begin with), we are just staving off what is going to happen as the genetic diversity is lost and the inbreeding kills them off. That's where the SSP comes in - every birth like this is intricately planned and parents chosen to widen the available genetic pool as much as possible to keep these species alive on Earth. At the least, we will have them still alive, even if they are in captivity - but it also very well could be the key later on to reintroducing (or introducing period) the species to live in the wild again because we have been able to preserve that genetic diversity.
This is already happening with the mountain gorilla, which unfortunately there are none in captivity (they just don't survive) and are going to be lost forever . Twenty or thirty years ago they were down to about 450, but through conservation efforts and protections the population has doubled (last I checked, there are like 845 - almost all of them have names and are tracked). While this is wonderful, we are also finding out that they have become so inbred because of how protection isolates them that they are already seeing the health effects (much more susceptible to disease, among other things). We have lengthened the lifespan of the species, but the permanent damage is already done.
That's why the SSP is working to keep those animals that do have a more robust population from meeting the same eventual fate.
The loss of habitat has just gone too far, and the looming problem is genetic diversity. Most of the animals, like the hippos, are effectively in captivity now even in their "ancestral homes". Even where the populations are "safe" (or "safer") for the moment, the populations have been divided into patches of habitat that they cannot naturally emigrate from because of human habitation. This is causing their genetic pools to erode.
So even if we manage to keep these areas protected (which with the constant political unrest in many of these places is a nearly impossible task to begin with), we are just staving off what is going to happen as the genetic diversity is lost and the inbreeding kills them off. That's where the SSP comes in - every birth like this is intricately planned and parents chosen to widen the available genetic pool as much as possible to keep these species alive on Earth. At the least, we will have them still alive, even if they are in captivity - but it also very well could be the key later on to reintroducing (or introducing period) the species to live in the wild again because we have been able to preserve that genetic diversity.
This is already happening with the mountain gorilla, which unfortunately there are none in captivity (they just don't survive) and are going to be lost forever . Twenty or thirty years ago they were down to about 450, but through conservation efforts and protections the population has doubled (last I checked, there are like 845 - almost all of them have names and are tracked). While this is wonderful, we are also finding out that they have become so inbred because of how protection isolates them that they are already seeing the health effects (much more susceptible to disease, among other things). We have lengthened the lifespan of the species, but the permanent damage is already done.
That's why the SSP is working to keep those animals that do have a more robust population from meeting the same eventual fate.
