Myanmar’s semi-captive working elephant population is not sustainable without capture from the wild

Wildlife populations in captivity are increasingly common, but captive populations often have a higher extinction risk and may require supplementation through wild-capture. Despite this, wild-capture may actually hinder long-term conservation goals by reducing remaining wild populations, and its direct and long-term indirect consequences for captive population viability are rarely addressed using longitudinal data. Here, we explore the implications of changes in wild-capture on population viability over 54 years using a multi-generational studbook of working Asian elephants from Myanmar. We show that population viability declined between 1960 and 2014 with declines in wild-capture. Wild-cau…