| San Clemente Loggerhead Shrikes (Lanius ludovicianus mearnsi) are endemic to San Clemente Island - an important training site for the U.S. Navy. These passerines are an endangered subspecies, having undergone a severe population decline in the 1970s resulting in listing under the Endangered Species Act. In response, the Navy initiated a multi-faceted recovery program, including a captive propagation facility on the island. For twenty-five years, the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research has managed this facility to: produce juveniles for release, maintain a population reserve in case of catastrophic loss in the wild, and provide care for abandoned wild eggs and chicks. This care consisted of artificial incubation and hand-rearing until lower survival was documented for hand-reared than parent-reared juveniles after release to the wild. In 2009, new management protocols were developed to allow the fostering of salvaged wild eggs in captive nests. After two initial successes, these techniques were extended to include salvaged chicks and have replaced the previous hand-rearing techniques as management protocol for rescued clutches. Adaptively changing protocols to address the needs of the population allows the program to fulfill its mission and support the wild population of San Clemente Loggerhead Shrikes. |