Preservation breeding

Preservation breeding is an attempt by many animal breeders to preserve bloodlines of animals, either of a rare breed, or of rare pedigrees within a breed. One purpose of preservation breeding is to protect genetic diversity within a species, another is to preserve valuable genetic traits that may not be popular or in fashion in the present, but may be of great value in the future. Preservation breeding can also mean the breeding of animals to populate or repopulate an area where a species previously existed. It can also mean the breeding of species that are healthy and releasing the healthy individuals into a population that is defective or infected for the purpose of strengthening the overall health of the population.

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