We ask the question in a paper in Conservation Letters and propose trials to test it.

Landholders, community groups, and investors would have a form of wildlife ownership by leasing threatened species on land outside protected areas.

They would be able to acquire animals from locally overabundant populations, breed them, innovate and assist further colonization/range expansion while making a profit from the increase. They may choose to reinvest any profits in further conservation.

The role of government would be to regulate, as is