I'm traveling at the moment actually for the next three weeks or so- sorry to be hasty.
The issues here a multi-faceted. Hybridization of captive wild species is one of the greatest threats to captive populations. There will simply never be another chance. You don't get to go back in time. Closely related forms are being muddied together with increasing frequency as healthy captive populations plummet due to poor management.
High mortality of females for example, leads to parties not being able to locate the female that they need or require. Some people just feel a need to throw a screw in the works to see what happens.
That said, Sterile hybrids are dead ends. Some biologists especially those focused on pleisiomorphic traits, like myself, will have studied many hybrid skins and even live animals with hybrid ancestry. This doesn't lead to much independence from the judgment wagon. Once you've been implicated as a 'hybridizer" many serious aviculturists will shy away from you even if your hybrids are produced or purchased from/by other parties.
As soon as humanly possible I'll return to this. One issue that deserves addressing is the issue of the term hybrid.
In fact, a hybrid is a cross between any two genotypes. This can be a cross between two different breeds of domestic dog as easily as a hybrid between a a domestic dog and a jackal; the cross between a a bear and a dog, if that were possible, would also be defined as a hybrid.
A bear and a jackal are about as closely related to one another as a Reeves and a Silver Pheasant - or any two genera of genuine pheasants- for example Lophura ( Silver Pheasant and Kalij) and Chyrsolophus ( Golden and Amherst Pheasants). Fertile male offspring are a possibility in the hybrids between monophyletic genera- for example the dog and the jackal and the Lophura and Chrysolophus pheasants. In most birds, sterility of hybrid females is the rule -when two ( even monophyletic) genera are concerned.
In mammals, it is the males that are invariably sterile in hybrids between distantly related species, while the females will occasionally be fertile- for example- the dog X jackal hybrid would produce a few fertile females from which more domestic dogs could be theoretically produced- blended back into domestic breeds. The male progeny would invariably be sterile.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that a growing number of bird enthusiasts do not understand the responsibility they have as stewards of wild species much less domestic mutations and breeds. The situation with Eclipse Pheasants ( Golden X Amherst) and Spaulding Peafowl ( Green X Blue) are examples of unadulterated selfishness and greed.
It is so difficult to locate a pure Indian Blue or Red Golden they are in all effects extinct in captivity. The same is true for the Green Peafowl and Amherst Pheasant.
Yes birds with bloodstock entirely unpolluted do exist but the readiness that unscrupulous wheeler dealers and home made master chefs have to intentionally produce hybrdis to 'see what they get' is really frightening.
Many biologists understand that the study of hybrids has and will continue to be an important foundation in developing theories of systematics and evolutionary biology.
I'm of the mindset that anyone that maintains or produces hybrids must create and diligently maintain registries that list every single specimen and all of their offspring.
But at the end of the day- we have a major problem with record keeping in general. If you are truly dedicated to the discipline of aviculture and/or selective breeding you shoulder a large burden that begins and ends with adequate documentation.
I don't care if you bred nothing but purse snowflake gorillas from a single pair of "wild caught stock" for 20 years. If you don't maintain documentation of that stock and help to follow the bloodlines- as a collaborative- in close cooperation- you are just yet another person exploiting captive bred wild stock for your own self-interest.
If you are producing hybrids or- breeding back towards a phenotype that more closely resembles one parent or the other, you have an even larger mark against you.
There will never be an unpolluted line once it has been contaminated.
If you know the difference between different evolutionary novelties- and enter into cooperative breeding groups with other educated individuals you can work towards shared objectives and goals. If you just do as you may with no concern for anyone but your own selfish interests- to produce the perfect emerald pied or whatever- and keep pushing out and surplusing all these birds that look exactly like green peafowl, you are a jerk, straight and simple.
The issues here a multi-faceted. Hybridization of captive wild species is one of the greatest threats to captive populations. There will simply never be another chance. You don't get to go back in time. Closely related forms are being muddied together with increasing frequency as healthy captive populations plummet due to poor management.
High mortality of females for example, leads to parties not being able to locate the female that they need or require. Some people just feel a need to throw a screw in the works to see what happens.
That said, Sterile hybrids are dead ends. Some biologists especially those focused on pleisiomorphic traits, like myself, will have studied many hybrid skins and even live animals with hybrid ancestry. This doesn't lead to much independence from the judgment wagon. Once you've been implicated as a 'hybridizer" many serious aviculturists will shy away from you even if your hybrids are produced or purchased from/by other parties.
As soon as humanly possible I'll return to this. One issue that deserves addressing is the issue of the term hybrid.
In fact, a hybrid is a cross between any two genotypes. This can be a cross between two different breeds of domestic dog as easily as a hybrid between a a domestic dog and a jackal; the cross between a a bear and a dog, if that were possible, would also be defined as a hybrid.
A bear and a jackal are about as closely related to one another as a Reeves and a Silver Pheasant - or any two genera of genuine pheasants- for example Lophura ( Silver Pheasant and Kalij) and Chyrsolophus ( Golden and Amherst Pheasants). Fertile male offspring are a possibility in the hybrids between monophyletic genera- for example the dog and the jackal and the Lophura and Chrysolophus pheasants. In most birds, sterility of hybrid females is the rule -when two ( even monophyletic) genera are concerned.
In mammals, it is the males that are invariably sterile in hybrids between distantly related species, while the females will occasionally be fertile- for example- the dog X jackal hybrid would produce a few fertile females from which more domestic dogs could be theoretically produced- blended back into domestic breeds. The male progeny would invariably be sterile.
It is becoming increasingly apparent that a growing number of bird enthusiasts do not understand the responsibility they have as stewards of wild species much less domestic mutations and breeds. The situation with Eclipse Pheasants ( Golden X Amherst) and Spaulding Peafowl ( Green X Blue) are examples of unadulterated selfishness and greed.
It is so difficult to locate a pure Indian Blue or Red Golden they are in all effects extinct in captivity. The same is true for the Green Peafowl and Amherst Pheasant.
Yes birds with bloodstock entirely unpolluted do exist but the readiness that unscrupulous wheeler dealers and home made master chefs have to intentionally produce hybrdis to 'see what they get' is really frightening.
Many biologists understand that the study of hybrids has and will continue to be an important foundation in developing theories of systematics and evolutionary biology.
I'm of the mindset that anyone that maintains or produces hybrids must create and diligently maintain registries that list every single specimen and all of their offspring.
But at the end of the day- we have a major problem with record keeping in general. If you are truly dedicated to the discipline of aviculture and/or selective breeding you shoulder a large burden that begins and ends with adequate documentation.
I don't care if you bred nothing but purse snowflake gorillas from a single pair of "wild caught stock" for 20 years. If you don't maintain documentation of that stock and help to follow the bloodlines- as a collaborative- in close cooperation- you are just yet another person exploiting captive bred wild stock for your own self-interest.
If you are producing hybrids or- breeding back towards a phenotype that more closely resembles one parent or the other, you have an even larger mark against you.
There will never be an unpolluted line once it has been contaminated.
If you know the difference between different evolutionary novelties- and enter into cooperative breeding groups with other educated individuals you can work towards shared objectives and goals. If you just do as you may with no concern for anyone but your own selfish interests- to produce the perfect emerald pied or whatever- and keep pushing out and surplusing all these birds that look exactly like green peafowl, you are a jerk, straight and simple.
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