| dc.description.abstract | Wildlife reintroduction programs are a type of conservation initiative meant to
preserve biodiversity through the restoration of damaged areas and the reintroduction of
extirpated species. Unfortunately, such reintroductions have a history of limited success,
ad hoc procedures, and little focus on hypothetico-deductive design. This study sought
to identify some of the trends in the leadership, management, and structure of wildlife
reintroduction programs through the use of a case study and survey. The survey was
distributed to reintroduction practitioners and biologists worldwide in an attempt to
identify patterns of organizational behavior within the field. Some general trends
indicated that most reintroductions had active and monitoring phases of 4 or more years
(59% and 75% of respondents respectively), adhered closely to World Conservation
Union (IUCN) Reintroduction Guidelines (43% of respondents), had a somewhat
hierarchical structure (50% of respondents), held annual long-term goal-setting meetings
(56%), observed annual employee evaluations (63%), and underwent project evaluations
annually, using both internal (74%) and external (39%) evaluative instruments. Opinion
questions regarding the ultimate performance of the project indicated that although 75% of researchers felt that their project had made good progress, only 63% said that a formal
evaluation had confirmed this statement. | en |
