Wild population assistance?

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Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 4, 2016
Messages
41
The infamous P. metallica comes to mind, but frankly, most pokies fall into this category. Deforestation has lead to their decline in numbers, so one could argue that releasing captive bred specimens would be beneficial. Of course, the argument to that would root itself int he fact that introducing additional populations to an already struggling ecosystem would be a bad idea due to unforeseen consequences.
Also, if the main threat to the wild populations is habitat loss, then increasing the population (by releasing captive bred specimens) isn't likely to help unless it comes with a corresponding increase in habitat availability.

Along a similar vein: There used to be a monarch butterfly rearing program run by the local butterfly conservatory here. You could sign up to receive caterpillars and chrysalises that you'd raise into butterflies, tag, and release. Good in theory, BUT they discovered that raising and releasing butterflies wasn't really helping the wild population since the underlying problem is habitat destruction. Now they're asking people to plant milkweed, avoid pesticides, etc. as that will likely have a much greater impact on the monarch population than raising a few caterpillars.

My take on this: If you have tarantulas (or other desirable wildlife) in your area/on your property already, do your best to ensure a hospitable environment for them. Don't try to take from or add to the wild population, just protect their habitat and let them do their thing.

And as for the outdoor enclosure/sanctuary idea... If you were going to keep spiders in it that you didn't intend to introduce/release to the surrounding area you'd need extremely fine mesh fencing to ensure that no slings escaped. Plus, you'd need to bury the fence deep enough that they (or outside wildlife) couldn't dig under it (probably talking 2-3 feet of buried fence/concrete/barrier-of-choice). And, on top of that, you'd probably also need to cover the top so they couldn't climb out either. And you'd have to check frequently for damage or wear to be sure that there were no holes developing.

I know you posted this as a "just for fun" sort of idea and I don't mean to rain on your parade, but I think that either option (either releasing CB specimens or keeping in a large, outdoor enclosure) is probably not a good idea. With the outdoor enclosure, making it escape-proof just isn't really practical. And with the release option, at best it probably won't really help the wild populations any and at worst it will be actively harmful to the ecosystem and potentially illegal. Releasing animals into any area is only something I would recommend doing with the explicit advice and permission of local wildlife experts and authorities.
 

Cavedweller

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Messages
1,064
Dave Moellendorf and I have plans to do this with Aphonopelma moellendorfi. We couldn't get any MMs this year, but he has some males that should mature next year. He's been worried about overcollection now that the species is properly described, and wants to make sure the population stays healthy.

@AphonopelmaTX
You have really good points. I wish there was a solution to the habitat fragmentation problem. At least places like Texas and Arizona still have a lot of big open country, but that doesn't do much to help species with a very small native range (like moellendorfi).
 

saturnthegrey

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jan 15, 2016
Messages
80
I wouldnt co.sider A hentzi to be invasive to any states in the midwest. I would still talk to officials about population density as it is and the possible effects of increasing those numbers. It wouldnt make much sense calling it invasive if its native to texas, new mexico, arizona and Oklahoma
 
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