Tasmanian devil gut microbiom post-translocation

Captivity presents extreme lifestyle changes relative to the wild, and evidence of microbiome dysbiosis in captive animals is growing. The gut microbiome plays a crucial role in host health. Whilst captive breeding and subsequent reintroduction to the wild is important for conservation, such efforts often have limited success. Post-release monitoring is essential for assessing translocation success, but changes to the microbiome of released individuals are poorly understood. The Tasmanian devil was previously shown to exhibit loss of microbiome diversity as a result of intense captive management. We conducted temporal monitoring of the gut microbiome of release devils during two translocation events. To investigate whether captive devils can restore a “wild-type” microbiome after release, we characterized and compared the microbiome of release and incumbent devils using 16S rRNA sequencing. We showed that the microbiome of incumbent animals was significantly different to the microbiome of captive animals pre-release, but that the microbiomes of animals post-release was similar to incumbents. The gut microbiome of released animals showed significant compositional shifted toward a “wild-type” microbiome. Our results suggest that the devil gut microbiome is not static and that loss of microbiome diversity in captivity can be restored following release to the wild. Current management strategies for conservation translocations of this species are effective at acclimating release animals and their microbiome. We recommend the broader application of microbiome monitoring in wildlife translocation programs to assess the impacts of translocation of animal microbiome.