Translocations, as the moves are called, often fail, University of Otago department of zoology PhD candidate James Hunter-Ayad said.
But because of the threats to New Zealand’s wildlife, translocations were increasingly used to save species.
However, now at least, talking about translocations could become easier after research Mr Hunter-Ayad led identified two different approaches in the conservation playbook.
Using the examples of the efforts to keep tuatara and takahe alive, the largely Otago-based research team showed how conservationists’ efforts to move species into new territories could be considered more "conservative", or more "extrapolative".
"It’s a new lens for looking at things," Mr Hunter-Ayad said.
Species on the brink of extinction might need a conservative approach to translocation efforts so the risk of losing animals was lessened.
The first efforts to move a species into a new place to live might require conservationists to remove the possibility the species would encounter risks or unknown factors.
However, after a while, conservationists would run out of predator-free islands or remote areas to safely move species to.
An extrapolative strategy could offer the opportunity to understand more about the species and the areas they could inhabit, he said.
Mr Hunter-Ayad used the tuatara and takahe to illustrate the kind of thinking behind each strategy.
The point of identifying the framework was, in part, to show it was a spectrum, rather than a black-or-white situation.
"Most species are going to have several aspects pointing towards more conservative, and several aspects are going to be pointing towards more extrapolative [translocation efforts]," he said.
"The challenge is to decide what side of that line, or right down the middle of that line, where you want to put your strategy."
