Relocation problems arising in conservation biology

An early motivation for this study was the problem of relocation of scarce or endangered species of animals for breeding and/or reintroduction to establish new populations in the wild. In this paper, we introduce single and multiple objective optimization models which are designed to comprehend a wide variety of objectives which are of interest to conservation and wildlife managers. We present the models in a general way and point out special features relative to ecology as they arise. Thus, the models may be used for relocation decisions analysis in diverse fields, not only in conservation and ecology. After presentation of the models in such a general way, we reformulate the models to make use of the special structure present. Such reformulation reduces the number of decision variables and constraints and, in general, makes solutions easy to obtain. By easy to obtain, we mean that tools from linear and mixed-integer programming together with elementary sorting procedures provide the basis for solving the models. In order to illustrate the capabilities of the models and solution techniques developed, we present the results of their application to the real-life relocation problem arising while analyzing restoration of the globally endangered Przewalskiʹs horse population.