Books, Guidelines and Newsletters
Every one of the 60 books, guidelines, translations and newsletters published by the group, each on its own page with its download.
Guidelines
The IUCN guidance this group maintains.
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Guidelines for Nonhuman Primate Reintroductions Published by the IUCN/SSC Re-introduction Specialist Group as Re-introduction News No. 21 (June 2002) and edited by Lynne R. Baker, covering re-introduction approaches, release strategies and stock types, and planning specific to nonhuman primates. -
Guidelines for Re-establishing Grey Partridges Through Releasing Practical release guidance from the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, drawn from research the Trust ran across 26 sites in East Anglia and southern England between 2004 and 2006, aimed at reversing the 82 percent decline in UK grey partridge numbers recorded between 1980 and 2005. -
Guidelines for Reintroduction of Galliforms for Conservation Purposes Occasional Paper No. 41 of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, edited jointly by the World Pheasant Association and the IUCN/SSC Re-introduction Specialist Group, setting out when re-introduction suits Galliformes conservation and the taxon-specific steps for planning and evaluating one. -
Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations Version 1.0 of the IUCN's core translocation guidance, produced by the Reintroduction and Invasive Species Specialist Groups' Task Force on Moving Plants and Animals for Conservation Purposes and published in 2013 by the IUCN Species Survival Commission, Gland, Switzerland (57pp). Its production was funded by Al Ain Zoo, Abu Dhabi, and the Karl Mayer Foundation. -
Guidelines for the In-situ Translocation of the African Elephant for Conservation Purposes First-edition guidance from the IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group, prepared with the Re-introduction and Veterinary Specialist Groups and edited by Holly T. Dublin and Leo S. Niskanen, published in 2003 by IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. -
Guidelines for the Rehabilitation and Translocation of Gibbons Occasional Paper No. 51 of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, written by Clare O. Campbell, Susan M. Cheyne and Benjamin M. Rawson and published by the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group in 2015 (56pp), covering the rehabilitation and translocation of gibbons. -
Guidelines for the Reintroduction of Great Apes Occasional Paper No. 35 of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, edited by Benjamin Beck, Kristina Walkup, Michelle Rodrigues, Steve Unwin, Dominic Travis and Tara Stoinski and published in 2007 by IUCN with the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science at Conservation International (48pp). -
Guidelines for the Rescue, Rehabilitation Release and Post-release Monitoring of Andean Bears Written by Armando X. Castellanos P., David A. Jackson and Dr. J. Leonardo Arias C. of the Andean Bear Foundation and published in 2016, covering Andean bear biology and ecology before setting out rescue, rehabilitation, release and post-release monitoring practice. -
IUCN Guidelines for amphibian reintroductions and other conservation translocations First edition guidance from the IUCN SSC Conservation Translocation Specialist Group on reintroducing amphibians and other conservation translocations, edited by Luke J. Linhoff, Pritpal Soorae and ten co-editors and published by IUCN, Gland, Switzerland in 2021. -
IUCN Guidelines for the Placement of Confiscated Animals Guidance for the authorities who take possession of confiscated wild animals, weighing the benefits and risks of the three disposal options it covers: maintaining animals in captivity, returning them to the wild, or euthanasia. Meant to be read alongside the IUCN Guidelines for Re-introductions.
Books
The Global Conservation Translocation Perspectives series.
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Global Conservation Translocation Perspectives: 2025 The eighth and most recent issue in the Global Conservation Translocation Perspectives series, edited by Pritpal S. Soorae, brings the series' running total to 459 case studies since the first issue in 2008. Highlights include a 46-year Arabian oryx recovery in Israel that grew eight founding animals into a population of 147, and the reintroduction of scimitar-horned oryx and addax to Chad, where sustained partnership work has grown the wild scimitar-horned oryx population past 600 and seen the species reclassified from Extinct in the Wild to Endangered. As in every issue, each case study reports its own difficulties, lessons learned, and success or failure rating in the series' standard format, and the volume is freely downloadable alongside the rest of the series. 2025 -
Global conservation translocation perspectives: 2021 The seventh issue in the Global Conservation Translocation Perspectives series, edited by Pritpal S. Soorae, collects 69 case studies covering 78 species across all eight of IUCN's statutory regions: 27 plant studies, 21 mammal, 12 bird, 6 fish, 5 amphibian, 4 invertebrate and 3 reptile projects in total. It was the first issue published under the group's current name, Conservation Translocation Specialist Group, reflecting a broadened remit beyond reintroductions to the full range of conservation translocations: reinforcement, ecological replacement, assisted colonization, rewilding and more. Each case study follows the series' standard format, introduction through goals, project summary, difficulties faced, lessons learned and the project's own success rating, and the volume is freely downloadable alongside the rest of the series. 2021 -
Global Reintroduction Perspectives: 2018 Published in 2018 (302pp) with forewords including one from Axel Moehrenschlager and SSC Chair Jon Paul Rodriguez. It opens with blister beetle and butterfly reintroductions in Sweden and the USA, staghorn coral restoration in the Florida Keys, and the Tequila splitfin in Mexico, before moving through fish, amphibian and reptile case studies. 2018 -
Global Re-introduction Perspectives: 2016 Published in 2016 (292pp) with forewords including one from Axel Moehrenschlager, then chair of the Reintroduction Specialist Group. It opens with Acropora coral restoration in India, the short-haired bumblebee's restoration in the UK, and the Kumamoto oyster in China, before moving through fish, amphibian and reptile case studies including the giant wētāpunga in New Zealand. 2016 -
Global Re-introduction Perspectives: 2013 Published in 2013 (298pp) with forewords from Shaikha Al Dhaheri of the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, Richard Reading of the Denver Zoological Foundation, and SSC Chair Simon Stuart. It opens with the fen raft spider and red barbed ant in the UK, then moves through fish, amphibian and reptile case studies including the Hungarian meadow viper and Hermann's tortoise in France. 2013 -
Global Re-introduction Perspectives: 2011 The fourth issue in the Global Conservation Translocation Perspectives series, edited by Pritpal S. Soorae, collects 50 case studies of reintroduction and reinforcement projects submitted by practitioners worldwide, from Berg-Breede whitefish reintroduction in South Africa's Western Cape to mangrove rehabilitation on Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat and Jubail Islands. Each follows the series' standard format: introduction, goals, project summary, difficulties faced, lessons learned, and the project's own rating of its success or failure. The volume is freely downloadable alongside the rest of the series. 2011 -
Global Re-introduction Perspectives: 2010 The third issue in the Global Conservation Translocation Perspectives series, edited by Pritpal S. Soorae, collects 72 case studies of reintroduction and reinforcement projects submitted by practitioners worldwide, from juniper scrub restoration in Scotland's Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park to spiny daisy translocations in South Australia. Each follows the series' standard format: introduction, goals, project summary, difficulties faced, lessons learned, and the project's own rating of its success or failure. The volume is freely downloadable alongside the rest of the series. 2010 -
Global Re-introduction Perspectives The first issue in the series (October 2008, 296pp), edited by Pritpal S. Soorae and prepared with the Environment Agency, Abu Dhabi and the Denver Zoological Foundation. It opens with coral and giant clam restorations in India and the Indo-Pacific, before moving through fish, amphibian, reptile and bird case studies from around the world.
Guideline translations
The reintroduction guidelines in other languages.
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Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations – Arabic The Arabic translation of the IUCN's Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations, introduced by Dr. Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri of the Environment Agency, Abu Dhabi, a member of the Reintroduction Specialist Group. -
Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations – Chinese The 69-page Chinese translation of Version 1.0 of the IUCN's Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations, produced in 2017 by the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. -
Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations – Czech The 58-page Czech translation of Version 1.0 of the IUCN's Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations, prepared by the Reintroduction and Invasive Species Specialist Groups' Task Force. -
Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations – French The French text circulated by the Council of Europe's Bern Convention Standing Committee (Strasbourg, October 2012) shortly after the Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations were formally adopted by the IUCN Species Survival Commission's Steering Committee that September. -
Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations – Korean The 75-page Korean translation of the IUCN's Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations, published by the Species Restoration Technology Institute of the Korea National Park Service. -
Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations – Portuguese The Portuguese translation of the IUCN's Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations, completed in June 2014 from the work of the Reintroduction and Invasive Species Specialist Groups' 2010 to 2012 working group (59pp). -
Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations – Russian The 72-page Russian translation of Version 1.0 of the IUCN's Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations. -
Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations – Spanish The Spanish translation of the IUCN's Guidelines for Reintroductions and Other Conservation Translocations, completed in December 2014 (56pp).
Newsletters
The group's archive, going back to 1990.
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RSG e-News April 2010 Issue 1 of RSG e-News (April 2010), opening with the Chairman's letter on the group's decision to revisit and rewrite the 1998 reintroduction guidelines to account for climate change, assisted migration and other translocation approaches the original guidelines had barely considered. 2010 -
Reintro Redeux January 2008 The IUCN/SSC Reintroduction Specialist Group's South Asia newsletter (January 2008), opening with an essay distinguishing genuine, scientifically planned reintroduction from the ad hoc releases and translocations often mislabelled as such in the region. 2008 -
Re-introduction News April 2007 Issue No. 26 of Re-introduction News (April 2007), edited by Pritpal S. Soorae for the IUCN/SSC Re-introduction Specialist Group under Chair Frédéric Launay, running 60 pages of case reports from the group's regional and taxonomic sections. 2007 -
RSG Oceania Newsletter 2007 The Oceania Reintroduction Specialist Group's December 2007 newsletter, edited by Doug P. Armstrong, covering the Rimatara lorikeet's translocation to Atiu in the Cook Islands, plant reintroductions to a restored dolomite quarry, and hihi, robin and whitehead releases across New Zealand. 2007 -
RSG Oceania Newsletter 2006 The Oceania Reintroduction Specialist Group's December 2006 newsletter, covering a salmonella outbreak that postponed a hihi reintroduction, plans for taking takahe back into the wild, and a run of New Zealand invertebrate and frog translocations to Lady Alice Island, Mana Island and Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. 2006 -
Reintro Redeux December 2005 The second issue of Reintro Redeux (December 2005), the IUCN/SSC Reintroduction Specialist Group's South and East Asia newsletter, reporting on the region's plans for the 2005 to 2008 quadrennium after that year's World Conservation Congress in Bangkok. 2005 -
RSG Oceania Newsletter 2005 The Oceania Reintroduction Specialist Group's December 2005 newsletter, reporting tuatara released to Whakaterepapanui Island, Hamilton's frog to Nukuwaiata, blue duck to the Flora Catchment in Kahurangi National Park, and hihi to Karori Sanctuary, among a full round of New Zealand translocations that year. 2005 -
Reintro Redeux December 2004 The first issue of Reintro Redeux (December 2004), launching the IUCN/SSC Reintroduction Specialist Group's South and East Asia newsletter and introducing the group's three-tier structure of regional and taxonomic section chairs under Chair Dr. Frederick Launay and Executive Officer Pritpal Soorae. 2004 -
RSG Oceania Newsletter 2004 The Oceania Reintroduction Specialist Group's November 2004 newsletter, reporting the Campbell Island teal's return to Campbell Island, North Island saddlebacks re-established on the North Island mainland, black robins to Pitt Island, and Hochstetter's frogs relocated ahead of highway construction. 2004 -
Re-introduction News January 2003 Issue No. 22 of Re-introduction News (January 2003), covering the outcomes of the RSG's March 2002 strategic planning workshop, the reorganisation of the IUCN Veterinary Specialist Group, and a history of reintroductions in the Seychelles. 2003 -
RSG Oceania Newsletter 2003 The Oceania Reintroduction Specialist Group's May 2003 newsletter, covering bird reintroductions to Karori Wildlife Sanctuary, the 2002 to 2003 kaki (black stilt) releases, brown teal to Tiritiri Matangi Island, and the 2001 to 2002 kakapo translocations. 2003 -
Re-introduction News June 2002 Issue No. 21 of Re-introduction News (June 2002), a primate-focused issue edited by Pritpal S. Soorae and Lynne R. Baker with an introduction from Primate Section Chair Dr. Devra Kleiman, covering golden lion tamarin work in Brazil, black howler monkey translocation in Belize, and chimpanzee reintroduction in the Republic of Congo. 2002 -
RSG Oceania Newsletter 2002 The Reintroduction Specialist Group's Australasian newsletter for April 2002 (the section was later renamed Oceania), reporting a boom year for kakapo breeding, mohua released to Ulva Island, and fairy prion chicks translocated to Mana Island. 2002 -
Re-introduction News August 2001 Issue No. 20 of Re-introduction News (August 2001), opening with Chairman Dr. Frédéric Launay's report that RSG membership had passed 300 worldwide as the group renewed its section chairs for the new quadrennium. 2001 -
RSG Australasian Newsletter 2001 The Reintroduction Specialist Group's Australasian newsletter for September 2001, reporting the Marquesan imperial-pigeon's translocation to Ua Huka in French Polynesia alongside a run of New Zealand invertebrate, bird and weta reintroductions. 2001 -
RSG Oceania Newsletter 2001 The Reintroduction Specialist Group's Australasian Section newsletter for February 2001, welcoming bird section chair Phil Seddon and Yolanda van Heezik back to New Zealand from Saudi Arabia and pointing readers to that November's special bird issue of Re-introduction News. 2001 -
Re-introduction News November 2000 Issue No. 19 of Re-introduction News (November 2000), a special bird issue edited by Pritpal S. Soorae and Philip J. Seddon, opening with the group's full roster of regional and taxonomic section chairs. 2000 -
Re-introduction News April 1999 Issue No. 17 of Re-introduction News (April 1999), a special issue on reptile and amphibian re-introductions funded by the Toronto Zoo, prompted by concern over worldwide amphibian declines. 1999 -
Re-introduction News August 1999 Issue No. 18 of Re-introduction News (August 1999), a special carnivore issue sponsored by the Turner Endangered Species Fund, the second in the group's series of taxon-focused issues after the previous one on amphibians and reptiles. 1999 -
RSG Oceania Newsletter 1999 The Oceania Reintroduction Specialist Group's 1999 newsletter, detailing the September 1999 kaki (black stilt) release into the Mackenzie Basin, New Zealand, where diet changes to counter goitre lifted post-release survival from 29 to over 80 percent. 1999 -
Re-introduction News January 1997 Re-introduction News for January 1997, reporting wildlife translocation work in French Guiana, crocodile reintroduction in Cuba, and new funding from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the Walt Disney Foundation. 1997 -
Re-introduction News May 1997 Issue No. 14 of Re-introduction News (May 1997), reporting that a group survey found 43 percent of African endangered species held in ISIS-tracked captive breeding institutions, alongside reintroduction proposals under review for Jordanian oryx, Mexican prairie dogs and Ecuadorian Andean bears. 1997 -
Re-introduction News September 1996 Re-introduction News for September 1996, reporting a surge of interest from reintroduction practitioners in Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Eastern Europe after the group's guidelines went onto the World Wide Web, and devoting a section to programmes in that region. 1996 -
Re-introduction News December 1995 Re-introduction News for December 1995, covering the western swamp tortoise in Australia, houbara bustards and gazelles reintroduced to Saudi Arabia's Mahazat as-Sayd Reserve, wild dogs into Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park in South Africa, and black-footed ferrets tracked in Montana. 1995 -
Re-introduction News May 1995 Re-introduction News for May 1995, introducing new Technical Project Officer Pritpal 'Micky' Soorae and reporting on the Chairman's presentation at the 3rd National Conference of Game Biologists in Bologna, Italy. 1995 -
Re-introduction News December 1994 Re-introduction News for December 1994, marking a change of RSG office staff as Minoo Rahbar departed after helping grow membership from under 50 to more than 250, and noting the group's 1993 Presidential Award from the Chicago Zoological Society. 1994 -
Re-introduction News May 1994 Re-introduction News for May 1994, reporting the burrowing bettong's return to Shark Bay, Australia, natterjack toad releases in Britain, cheer pheasant work in Pakistan, and the recovery of the Mauritius kestrel. 1994 -
Re-introduction News December 1993 Re-introduction News for December 1993, a bird-focused issue opening with an overview from Birds Section Chair Dr. Tom Cade and nine case histories including the pink pigeon in Mauritius, the griffon vulture in France, and the swift fox on the Canadian prairies. 1993 -
Re-introduction News May 1993 The sixth issue of Re-introduction News (May 1993), noting the group's growing international network with new material including the breeding and release programme for the kagu in New Caledonia. 1993 -
Re-introduction News December 1992 Re-introduction News for December 1992, reporting on the IV World Conference on Birds of Prey in Berlin, including the first release of California condors into the wild in January 1992 and raptor reintroduction programmes across Europe, Israel and Mauritius. 1992 -
Re-introduction News May 1992 Re-introduction News for May 1992, circulating the RSG's draft reintroduction guidelines, the group's first attempt at generic guidance covering any organism, for member comment ahead of submission to the SSC Steering Committee, alongside a report on black-footed ferrets released in Wyoming. 1992 -
Re-introduction News May 1991 Re-introduction News for May 1991, reporting on the small but growing number of re-introduction projects in Australia at a time when few formal guidelines yet existed to guide them. 1991 -
Re-introduction News November 1991 Re-introduction News for November 1991, leading with an overview of plant re-introduction as a still largely experimental, high-risk conservation strategy. 1991 -
Re-introduction News November 1990 Re-introduction News for November 1990, one of the group's earliest issues, listing its founding Chairman Dr. Mark R. Stanley Price and its first taxonomic section chairs, including Dr. Tom Cade for birds and Dr. Devra Kleiman for primates. 1990
Frequently asked questions
What does this page list?
Every book, guideline, translated guideline and newsletter published by the group, each with its own page and a link to its download. It exists so that each document has a page of its own, rather than only a bare PDF link.
How are the documents grouped?
By type: guidelines, books, guideline translations and newsletters. Within each group the newest come first. The newsletter archive runs from 1990 to 2010 and the book series from 2008 to 2025.
Are these documents free?
Yes. Every one can be downloaded without an account or a fee. Each PDF states its own citation and reuse terms on its title or copyright page.
Where are the individual case studies?
The case studies from the books are catalogued separately, and can be searched by species, taxon group, country or book year, or browsed as a paged list.