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Evaluating ex situ conservation projects: Genetic structure of the captive population of the Arabian sand cat

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Abstract

Ex situ conservation plays an increasingly important role in the conservation of endangered species. Molecular genetic markers can be helpful to assess the status of captive breeding programmes. We present the first molecular genetic analysis of the captive population of the Arabian sand cat (Felis margarita harrisoni) using microsatellites. Our data indicates that the captive population of F. m. harrisoni comprises three genetic clusters, which are based on different founder lineages. Genetic diversity was relatively high, the effective population size even exceeded the number of founders. This was presumably caused by subsequently integrating unrelated, genetically diverse founders into the captive population and a careful management based on minimizing kinship. However, we detected an error in the studbook records, which might have led to incestuous matings and underlines the usefulness of molecular evaluations in captive breeding programmes for endangered species.

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Author notes

  1. Axel Hochkirch

    Present address: Present address: Zoo Hoyerswerda, Am Haag 20, D-02977, Hoyerswerda, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Trier University, Department of Biogeography, D-54286, Trier, Germany

    Kathrin A. Witzenberger & Axel Hochkirch

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  1. Kathrin A. Witzenberger
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  2. Axel Hochkirch
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Correspondence to Axel Hochkirch.

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Witzenberger, K.A., Hochkirch, A. Evaluating ex situ conservation projects: Genetic structure of the captive population of the Arabian sand cat. Mamm Biol 78, 379–382 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2013.03.001

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2013.03.001

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