Captive animals 'have almost half the odds of reproductive success compared to wild-born ones'

Animals born in captivity have only half the odds of successful breeding compared to wild animals, scientists have revealed.

And the discovery puts into doubt the future success of animal breeding programmes which increasingly prevent the extinction of thousands of species.

Scientists found captive-born animals had, on average, almost half the odds of reproductive success compared to their wild-born counterparts in captivity.