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so i was out fishing today (yes, i let them all go..lol ) and i started to think...

if I lived in Africa and raised a group of cichlids in a tank, and then decided to release them into the wild by dumping them into lake malawi or tanganyika, would they be able to survive with just their instincts, or are they more like hampsters, dogs, and many other domestic animals, where they would just die off and not know how to survive. I know that this is a common problem that zoos come across with certain endangered species such as chimps and cheetahs (..i think). they release them back, and they lack the skills to survive and then die off.

well, would a cichlid, or a betta or any other fish for that matter get too accustomed to being fed every day straight to the tank without having to hunt for their food, or not having to hide from predators? or is it in their nature to instinctively do these things? ....or does it depend on the species?

..confused..

~*~ Caviar? no thanks! ~*~

Many fish are raised and let back into the wild. The main big difference is that the breeding stock are usually ex wild fish themselves. By doing this they seem to inheret their natural survival skills. From what I have read and seen there is still a big mortality rate.

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Keith

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I think it would depend on the fish, say algea eaters who have been housed in a tank with a constant supply of algea as opposed to algea wafers etc shouldn't have any trouble feeding in the wild, and if they'd been kept with large fish (obviously not ones that would per se eat them but would be large enough to look like a threat) the predator factor may not be such a problem.

However other fish that have been raised on flakes/pellets etc would have a more difficult time adapting.

But there are well documented cases of fish being released into the wild, even in environments completely different to their own and thriving.

We had some friends who lived up in toronto, and they told us about some fishermen that caught a full sized red bellied pirhana that had obviously been released by an irresponsible owner

With cichlids, they must be released as fry. So the programs have a high mortality rate. But, they breed and release a large number, thus it still helps to repopulate the lakes for the fish they are working with.

The thing is, there is a different reason for this, related only to the cichlids. What makes a cichlid a cichlid, and different from all other fish, is their pharyngeal jaws and teeth. They have a pair of "jaws" with teeth on them, that all non-cichlid fish do not have. This is the definitive way to determine the exact species of fish (the fish must be disected to determine this). Anyway, the thing is, in captivity, as the fish grow and in the early stages of life, the teeth on these phayngeal jaws changes and addapts to the types of foods they are fed. Thus, in captivity, they actually become deformed from their natural forms. So, when returning or stocking fish that have grown or lived in captive conditions they are not developed to feed on the foods they would normally in the wild environment. This is also an addative to the mortality rate.

Many of the restocking or ecological programs, they are actually breeding the fish in netted areas of the lakes, and releasing them from the captivities they are in. Thus, they were never removed from the environments they were kept in.

The biggest problem with releasing captive fish into the environment, is that you do not know what diseases they might be carrying with them. Thus you may be introducing a deadly thing to the environment you are attempting to save. So this should be left up to the people that know what they are doing.

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There is always a bigger fish...

hmm...ok..those comments all make sense. thanks for the feedback.

~*~ Caviar? no thanks! ~*~