British Sign Language Glossaries of Curriculum Terms

BSL Environmental Science Glossary - Soft release definition

Definition: Soft release is when an animal that has been successfully bred and raised in captivity is gradually released in stages by supporting and feeding it in an enclosure in the area it's going to be released into, before being released there completely.

We have done this here with the Scottish wildcat, we looked after the offspring before moving them to a new area in which we monitored and fed them. Then when they were ready we released them into the wild where they re-habituated and integrated back into the wild. They have subsequently bred and thrived out there out on their own, which has been a great success.