Genetic guidelines for captive breeding and reintroductions of the endangered Black-fronted Piping Guan, Aburria jacutinga (galliformes, cracidae), an Atlantic Forest endemic

The survival of a number of birds rely on captive breeding and reintroduction into the wild, but captive populations are often small and can be exposed to the negative effects of inbreeding and genetic drift. Then, managers are concerned not only with producing as much offspring as possible, but also with the retention of the maximum genetic variability within and between populations. The Black-fronted Piping Guan, Aburria jacutinga, is an endangered cracid endemic to the Atlantic Forest of southeastern South America. Because of its conservation status and functional importance, a captive breeding program started independently, mainly in three aviaries, in the decade of 1980. Although they have supplied animals for reintroductions, genetic variability aspects have never been considered. Here we addressed levels of genetic variability within and between these aviaries. Bayesian clustering analyses revealed two lineages. Inbreeding was not detected, although we found evidences for a recent bottleneck in one of the aviaries. Then, our main management recommendations are: i) reintroducing the species in areas where it has been extinct is more prudent than supplementing natural populations, as it could involve risks of disrupting local adaptive complexes; ii) as far as inbreeding can be avoided, the captive groups should be managed separately to minimize adaptation to captivity; iii) crossbreedings in pre-release generations could improve reintroduction success; and iv) a studbook should be implemented. As populations of Black-fronted Piping Guan from conservation units are progressively declining, these captive genetic repositories may gain importance in a near future. Zoo Biol. 35:313-318, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.