A breeding program is the planned breeding of a group of animals or plants, usually involving at least several individuals and extending over several generations. Breeding programs are commonly employed in several fields where humans wish to manage the characteristics of their animals' offspring through careful selection of breeding partners:
- Dog and cat fanciers may coordinate a breeding program to raise the probability of an animal's litter producing a championship-caliber animal.
- Horse breeders try to produce fast racehorses through breeding programs.
- Conservationists use breeding programs to try to help the recovery of endangered species by preserving the existing gene pool and preventing inbreeding.
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