Reevaluating the suitability of amphibians and reptiles for translocation

The scale of amphibian and reptile translocations over the past 16 years necessitates a reassessment of current practices since the last major review in 2009. We conducted a literature review of translocations from 2007 to 2023 and identified 313 case studies encompassing conservation-, mitigation-, and research-related translocations. Most published efforts were conservation-driven, focusing primarily on reptiles in North America, Oceania, and Europe. We evaluated translocation success with both authors' self-assessments and a standardized success-stage framework (Stages 0-4), where Stage 4 represents the highest level of long-term success. Success rates differed substantially between translocation types. High success (Stages 3 and 4) was achieved in 19% of conservation case studies; however, only 6% of mitigation case studies reached Stage 3, and none reached Stage 4. Mitigation translocations also had approximately double the failure rate of conservation translocations. Conservation translocations more frequently incorporated pretranslocation threat removal and long-term postrelease monitoring, both significantly associated with higher success stages (threat removal: estimate = 2.43, p < 0.001; monitoring duration: estimate = 0.93, p < 0.001). In contrast, mitigation translocations were less consistent in implementing and evaluating these practices. Overall, success rates across all translocation types were lower than in previous reviews, likely reflecting the inclusion of a substantially larger number of projects, including some that have not yet been monitored long enough to reach later success stages. Our findings indicate that mitigation translocations, under current practices, rarely achieve conservation objectives, highlighting the need for greater emphasis on proactive habitat protection and restoration.