Primary themes in intergenerational justice are a healthy environment, the perpetuation of Earth’s biodiversity, and the sustainable management of the biosphere. However, the current rate of species declines globally, ecosystem collapses driven by accelerating and catastrophic global heating, and a plethora of other threats preclude the ability of habitat protection alone to prevent a cascade of amphibian and other species mass extinctions. Reproduction and advanced biotechnologies, biobanking of germplasm and somatic cells, and conservation breeding programs (RBCs) offer a transformative change in biodiversity management. This change can economically and reliably perpetuate species irrespective of environmental targets and extend to satisfy humanity’s future needs as the biosphere expands into space. Currently applied RBCs include the hormonal stimulation of reproduction, the collection and refrigerated storage of sperm and oocytes, sperm cryopreservation, in vitro fertilization, and biobanking of germplasm and somatic cells. The benefits of advanced biotechnologies in development, such as assisted evolution and cloning for species adaptation or restoration, have yet to be fully realized. We broaden our discussion to include genetic management, political and cultural engagement, and future applications, including the extension of the biosphere through humanity’s interplanetary and interstellar colonization. The development and application of RBCs raise intriguing ethical, theological, and philosophical issues. We address these themes with amphibian models to introduce the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Special Issue, The Sixth Mass Extinction and Species Sustainability through Reproduction Biotechnologies, Biobanking, and Conservation Breeding Programs.

Intergenerational justice entitles the maximum retention of Earth’s biodiversity. The 2022 United Nations COP 15, “Ecological Civilisation: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth”, is committed to protecting 30% of Earth’s terrestrial environments and, through COP 28, to mitigate the effects of the climate catastrophe on the biosphere. We focused this review on three core themes: the need and potential of reproduction biotechnologies, biobanks, and conservation breeding programs (RBCs) to satisfy sustainability goals; the technical state and current application of RBCs; and how to achieve the future potentials of RBCs in a rapidly evolving environmental and cultural landscape. RBCs include the hormonal stimulation of reproduction, the collection and storage of sperm and oocytes, and artificial fertilisation. Emerging technologies promise the perpetuation of species solely from biobanked biomaterials stored for perpetuity. Despite significant global declines and extinctions of amphibians, and predictions of a disastrous future for most biodiversity, practical support for amphibian RBCs remains limited mainly to a few limited projects in wealthy Western countries. We discuss the potential of amphibian RBCs to perpetuate amphibian diversity and prevent extinctions within multipolar geopolitical, cultural, and economic frameworks. We argue that a democratic, globally inclusive organisation is needed to focus RBCs on regions with the highest amphibian diversity. Prioritisation should include regional and international collaborations, community engagement, and support for RBC facilities ranging from zoos and other institutions to those of private carers. We tabulate a standard terminology for field programs associated with RBCs for publication and media consistency.

Primary themes in intergenerational justice are a healthy environment, the perpetuation of Earth’s biodiversity, and the sustainable management of the biosphere. However, the current rate of species declines globally, ecosystem collapses driven by accelerating and catastrophic global heating and a plethora of other threats, preclude the ability of habitat protection alone to prevent a cascade of amphibian and other species mass extinctions. Reproduction biotechnologies, biobanking, and conservation breeding programs (RBCs), enabling species restoration, offer a critical transformative change that can economically and reliably perpetuate species irrespective of environmental targets. These capacities extend indefinitely into the future and satisfy humanities needs as the biosphere expands into space. Currently applied RBCs include the hormonal stimulation of reproduction, the collection and refrigerated storage of sperm and oocytes, sperm cryopreservation, in vitro fertilisation, along biobanking. Advanced biotechnologies such as assisted evolution and cloning for species adaptation or restoration have yet to be fully realised. We broaden our discussion to include genetic management, broad political and cultural engagement, and future applications. The development and application of RBCs, and particularly assisted evolution and species restoration, raise intriguing ethical, theological, and philosophical issues. We address these themes with amphibian models to introduce the MDPI Special Issue, The Sixth Mass Extinction and Species Sustainability through Reproduction Biotechnologies, Biobanking, and Conservation Breeding Programs.

Introduction: This study addresses the need for automated monitoring solutions to evaluate the daily activity patterns of camels, which is critical for improving animal welfare and farm management practices. By leveraging advanced deep learning techniques, this research aims to identify and analyze five key daily activities—sleeping, sitting, standing, eating, and drinking—using video recordings from a camel farm in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.Methods: The dataset was collected over two 7-day phases in November and December 2022. In Phase 1, video recordings were analyzed to monitor the activities of two camels and measure the duration of each activity. In Phase 2, the study expanded to include six camels, enabling an evaluation of individual behavioral variations. The YOLOv7 object detection algorithm was used to train and validate the model on images extracted from the recordings, achieving high accuracy in detecting and classifying the defined activities.Results: The results showed notable variations in activity patterns between Phases 1 and 2. Average standing time decreased from 9.8 hours (40.8%) to 6.0 hours (25.1%), and sleeping time dropped from 4.3 hours (18.0%) to 2.8 hours (11.7%). Conversely, sitting time increased from 6.2 hours (25.8%) to 9.9 hours (41.5%), and eating time rose from 3.1 hours (12.8%) to 4.6 hours (19.2%). Drinking time remained consistent at an average of 37 minutes (2.6%) across both phases. Activity peaks were observed during early mornings and after 16:00, with midday hours dominated by resting in shaded areas. Evening and nighttime activities primarily included sitting, minimal head movements, and occasional standing or walking.Discussion: The established deep learning framework demonstrated reliable performance in detecting and analyzing camel activity patterns, offering a practical solution for continuous monitoring and improved farm management. However, further research is recommended to validate the model’s performance across different seasons and environmental conditions to enhance its robustness and adaptability.