>>512931424 (OP)
when a species becomes classified as endangered it has crossed a threshold that almost always results in extinction. The first sign that a species has become endangered is that it has lost the ability to mate and pair bond. They literally forget how to reproduce and its impossible to teach them because there is no example to learn from. Whenever a species does happen to recovered from being endangered, it usually does not occur because the species suddenly learned how to mate again. They only recover if the knowledge survives and the only ones who survive are the ones who already know and replace the ones who do not. This is mostly due to the learned traumatic experiences the animals have come to associate with interacting with another mate. It is very difficult to convince an animal that has been abused its entire life that it is possible not every encounter will be this way. So they avoid all potential mates as if it was a danger to their survival, or might result in just more suffering.
This is what happens when civilizations collapse. It is more like a disperse. Settlements are vacated. Children fend for themselves. some get eaten. But none survive. All primates have to live together to survive. Especially humans. Just because a person is successful enough to never starve it does not mean he will survive to see a person like him exist in the future.
All of these same behaviors exist in confinement as well but with a slight twist. The animals in confinement are invested in continuing the suffering and chain of abuse. From the mouse utopia experiments we know there is very little anyone can do to stop the suffering without releasing the mice and slowly stop feeding them
