Hybrid apes in the Anthropocene: Burden or asset for conservation?

Abstract

1. Conservationists often view hybrid animals as problematic, at least if anthropo-genic influence caused the intermixing to occur. However, critics propose that hu-mans should respect non-human autonomy, reject and accept the creatures theyhave helped to create. 2. Based on two case studies of our own ethological, genetic and ethnographic re-search about chimpanzee and orangutan subspecies hybrids, we assess what, ifanything, should be done about such animals. We consider problems posed bycross-bred apes relating to: (a) Breeding—Do hybrids really experience reduced re-productive success? How are population-level concerns and welfare of individualanimals balanced in conservation breeding? (b) Essentialism—Are anti- hybrid argu-ments based on essentialist or purist thinking? Does essentialism vary by conser-vation context? (c) Pragmatism—How do socio-economic circumstances influencewhether hybrids are embraced or ignored? Does the erosion of ‘untouched nature’render hybrids more important? 3. We show that answers to these questions are complex and context-specific, andthat therefore decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis. For example, wefind that anti-hybrid arguments are essentialist in some cases (e.g. ape manage-ment in zoos) but not in others (e.g. ape reintroduction). Thus, rather than presentrecommendations, we conclude by posing nine questions that conservationistsshould ask themselves when making decisions about taxonomic hybrids.