Elegy for a Vaquita

William Robichaud, SWG Coordinator, February 2018

On February 17, a procession will be held in Mexico City to bear witness to the likely, imminent extinction of the Vaquita. The Vaquita is a small porpoise native to Mexico’s upper Gulf of California, whose estimated population has dwindled to fewer than 30 individuals. Last November, during a last-ditch effort to save the species by bringing some into captivity, the first adult Vaquita caught by an international team died soon after capture. In response, the captive program was immediately suspended, with no animals in captivity. This could prove a greater tragedy for the species than the death of the one animal.

It is possible that re-doubling efforts to save the Vaquita in the wild, through the collection of illegal fishing nets (in which Vaquita are caught and drowned, as by-catch), will be successful, but the evidence and the trends to-date are not good. Reverting to only this strategy may pose even greater risk to the Vaquita’s survival as a species than the attempt to bring them into captivity. None of these decisions is easy; no one’s crystal ball is clear and infallible.

Vaquita and Saola share several things in common. Vaquita is the most endangered marine mammal in the world, and Saola may be the world’s most endangered terrestrial mammal. There are no individuals of either species in captivity. Both are threatened as by-catch in the catastrophic Asian wildlife trade. Vaquita is threatened by gill nets set for a large bass, the totoaba, whose swim bladder fetches high prices in the trade; Saola is threatened by snares, set mainly for other, more valuable species.

To date, conservation efforts for the two species have focused on removal of these threats from the ranges of the animals—large gill nets in the case of Vaquita, and wire snares for Saola. Both efforts have made substantial progress. Yet both efforts have also been inadequate to stem the overwhelming tide of threat; intensive in situ conservation efforts may have slowed declines in both species, but they have not reversed them.

Hence, collective international decisions were taken in both cases to bring some of the last individuals of these species into captivity. Preparations are underway to do this for Saola.

The lesson of last November’s death of a Vaquita is that there are no risk-free options to save highly endangered species from extinction, be they Vaquita or Saola. Captive management of Vaquita may indeed be the best strategy, but perhaps it was not started soon enough, when enough Vaquitas remained to get through any initial failures, and learn from them.  

We are determined to write a different ending for Saola. That said, one or more of the first Saolas we bring into captivity might also succumb, as we learn how to handle and care for this little-known species. But we have to learn from the Vaquita example, and forge ahead with the Saola captive management program despite any early losses.

Among the inevitable risks, this path of resolve will give Saola its best chance. We are determined that the Saola story end not in the grief of a memorial procession, but with the same captive management success that was pivotal for saving the Black-footed Ferret, Mauritius Kestrel, and California Condor. The path ahead has risks, but the only guarantee of failure is to not try. By working together, with resolve, success for Saola will be within our reach.

Sincerely,

Bill Robichaud

https://www.saolafoundation.org/