Predator avoidance training of the endangered lizard from El Hierro (Canary Islands): A new management strategy before reintroduction into the wild

Animals raised in captivity during several generations may not express appropriate antipredator behaviour when reintroduced into the wild. Here we present the results of experiments to enhance behavioural responses to predators in adult males of the endangered lizard Gallotia simonyi (El Hierro, Canary Islands). Individuals were subjected to a training procedure (control, pre-training, training and post-training phases) using stuffed specimens of a kestrel and a cat as predators. We filmed all trials and compared relative durations of the more common behaviour patterns shown by lizards, both among experimental phases and before and after presentation of the stuffed predator. Locomotion and Basking were significantly reduced in the training and post-training trials and also after stimulus presentation, suggesting that the training protocol induced lizard avoidance over both predator models. To our knowledge, this is the first time lizards have been trained to show antipredator avoidance and our results provide the basis for a new management strategy that could be useful for reintroduction of captive-bred individuals of endangered species.