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A reliable method for individual identification and gender determination of wild leopards (Panthera pardus fusca) using non-invasive samples

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Abstract

We describe a highly polymorphic microsatellite panel for identifying individual leopards using DNA from scat. After successfully screening 16 published microsatellites, we optimized a panel of 7 microsatellites that yields a Probability of Identity between siblings value of 5.24E−04. We used this panel to identify 217 individuals from 287 leopard scats collected from five tiger-reserves in Central India. We identified 101 males and 92 females by amplifying a fragment of the Amelogenin protein gene. This panel will be helpful to study genetic structure, gene flow, relatedness and sex ratio of leopards.

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Acknowledgments

Funding was provided by Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), Friends of the National Zoo, and George Mason University. We thank H. S. Panwar, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Wildlife, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra and field directors and staff of all five tiger reserves (Kanha, Satpura, Melghat, Pench MP and Mh) for providing research permissions and logistical help. We thank Robert Fleischer, Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics, SCBI and Yogesh S. Shouche, National Center for Cell Sciences (NCCS), Pune, Maharashtra, India for providing laboratory space and facilitating lab work; Nancy Rotzel, Libby Dougan and Hitendra Munot for logistical support, and Susan Lumpkin for editorial comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC, 20013-7012, USA

    Trishna Dutta, Sandeep Sharma, Jesús E. Maldonado & John Seidensticker

  2. Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, 4400 University Dr., David King Hall MSN 5F2, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA

    Trishna Dutta, Sandeep Sharma, Jesús E. Maldonado & Thomas C. Wood

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  1. Trishna Dutta
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  2. Sandeep Sharma
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  3. Jesús E. Maldonado
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  4. Thomas C. Wood
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  5. John Seidensticker
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Correspondence to Trishna Dutta.

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Dutta, T., Sharma, S., Maldonado, J.E. et al. A reliable method for individual identification and gender determination of wild leopards (Panthera pardus fusca) using non-invasive samples. Conservation Genet Resour 4, 665–667 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-012-9618-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-012-9618-5

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