Establishing an assurance population for the critically endangered Poecilotheria tarantula

An assurance population is a sustained, captively bred population maintained to conserve a species that faces significant threats in the wild. An assurance population basically functions as an insurance policy in case the species disappears from the wild or could otherwise benefit from reintroductions (e.g., to bolster the genetics or demographics of the wild population). Financial and logistical complications of breeding and caring for animals that produce large numbers of offspring limits conservation breeding under human care for many invertebrate species. Poecilotheria metallica is a critically endangered species of tarantula found in Andhra Pradesh, in central southern India. While P. metallica populations dwindle in the wild, their captive population has grown through private collectors breeding and rearing individuals throughout the world, including the United States. Drawing on multidisciplinary insights from ecology, genetics, and IUCN conservation breeding guidelines, we assessed the benefits, challenges, and ethical considerations of establishing an assurance population composed of P. metallica tarantulas kept by private collectors in the United States, in partnership with research organizations and zoos for use in a formal conservation breeding program. Our findings help lay the groundwork for a conservation breeding program for P. metallica and potentially act as a framework for conservation breeding of other invertebrate species.