Modelling Genetic Benefits and Financial Costs of Integrating Biobanking into the Captive Management of Koalas

• Published in: Animals (Basel) 2022-04, Vol.12 (8), p.990
• Main Authors: Howell, Lachlan G, Johnston, Stephen D, O'Brien, Justine K, Frankham, Richard, Rodger, John C, Ryan, Shelby A, Beranek, Chad T, Clulow, John, Hudson, Donald S, Witt, Ryan R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Artificial insemination; artificial reproductive technologies; assisted reproductive technologies; biobanking; Biobanks; Breeding; captive breeding; Colonies; Conservation; Costs; Cryopreservation; Economic impact; Endangered & extinct species; Freezing; Genetic diversity; Genetic effects; genome resource banking; Habitats; Heterozygosity; Inbreeding; Modelling; Phascolarctos cinereus; Populations; Reproduction (biology); Reproductive technologies; Wildlife; Wildlife management; Zoo animals
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani12080990

Zoo and wildlife hospital networks are set to become a vital component of Australia's contemporary efforts to conserve the iconic and imperiled koala ( ). Managed breeding programs held across zoo-based networks typically face high economic costs and can be at risk of adverse genetic effects typical of unavoidably small captive colonies. Emerging evidence suggests that biobanking and associated assisted reproductive technologies could address these economic and genetic challenges. We present a modelled scenario, supported by detailed costings, where these technologies are optimized and could be integrated into conservation breeding programs of koalas across the established zoo and wildlife hospital network. Genetic and economic modelling comparing closed captive koala populations suggest that supplementing them with cryopreserved founder sperm using artificial insemination or intracytoplasmic sperm injection could substantially reduce inbreeding, lower the required colony sizes of conservation breeding programs, and greatly reduce program costs. Ambitious genetic retention targets (maintaining 90%, 95% and 99% of source population heterozygosity for 100 years) could be possible within realistic cost frameworks, with output koalas suited for wild release. Integrating biobanking into the zoo and wildlife hospital network presents a cost-effective and financially feasible model for the uptake of these tools due to the technical and research expertise, captive koala colonies, and facilities that already exist across these networks.