Taking Responsibility for Confined Threatened Species Populations

Adaptive management that predicts and responds rapidly to triggers is essential for sustained conservation and animal welfare outcomes for contained animal populations, including of threatened species. We provide a template for creating a sustainable and culturally‐appropriate Strategic Adaptive Management Plan for confined wildlife, using a case study of a warru (black‐flanked rock‐wallaby) enclosure in northern South Australia. The key role of frequent systematic monitoring by traditional owners and scientists and agreement by all stakeholders on thresholds and priorities for intervention is fundamental. Stakeholders unanimously recognised that maintaining the population within sustainable thresholds is integral to conservation and cultural objectives and leads to improved animal welfare outcomes.