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Abstract

Mitigation translocation, which involves moving animals from areas slated for anthropogenic alteration or destruction to alternative sites, is a globally utilized strategy to mitigate harm to amphibians and reptiles – herpetofauna. Despite the scientific community’s lack of support for its usage, mitigation translocation continues to gain public favour. However, an assessment of the status and success of translocations is outdated with the last major global review completed 16 years ago, and no review of mitigation translocation or its effectiveness conducted in British Columbia (BC), Canada. Therefore, we set out to accomplish three goals: revaluate the global suitability of mitigation and conservation translocation for herpetofauna, evaluate the scale of mitigation translocation in BC and, its effectiveness for a native amphibian, the Columbia spotted frog (Rana luteiventris). Through a systematic literature review of global herpetofauna translocations from 2007 to 2023, our review yielded 313 case studies. Our analysis reveals that most published efforts are conservation-driven, focusing primarily on reptiles. Regarding success when analysed using the Miller et al., (2014) definition, 19% of evaluated conservation studies reached success, and only 6% of mitigation translocations reached success. Focusing on BC, we reviewed mitigation translocations across the province from 2019 to 2022 and found that 5,134,254 individuals were translocated, most prominently larval Western toads (Anaxyrus boreas). These translocations were primarily linked to linear development projects such as large-scale oil and gas developments. However, the effectiveness of mitigation translocation in BC is unknown due to a lack of monitoring. Therefore, we evaluated post-translocation survival, body condition, and movement rates of Columbia spotted frogs relocated 1 km or 5 km from their capture locations. Results indicate translocations had no significant effect on body condition or movement rates; instead, apparent survival was linked more to the frog’s sex and age, with the lowest survival in juveniles and highest in females. However, more monitoring is needed to consider the translocation successful. Given the low success of mitigation translocations globally, BC’s reliance on the practice, and a lack of species-specific data and long-term monitoring, decision-makers must shift their focus to understanding and improving outcomes or identifying alternatives to mitigation translocation.