Genetic diversity analysis of captive populations: The Vietnamese sika deer (Cervus nippon pseudaxis) in zoological parks

Abstract

The Vietnamese sika deer (Cervus nippon pseudaxis) is an endangered subspecies; it has disappeared in the wild, but is being bred in zoological parks. We studied the neutral genetic diversity and population structure of herds kept in different European zoos, using nine microsatellite loci. The goal was to evaluate the consequences of founding effects and breeding practices on the level and structure of genetic variability. The level of genetic diversity within the European zoos is not lower than that of the populations kept in Vietnamese farms. Strong differences among zoological parks and between the European group and the Vietnamese population were detected. This is probably due to founding effects, genetic drift, and possibly hybridization in both Europe and Vietnam. We expected to find a much lower level of genetic diversity in Europe. The current overall level of genetic diversity is probably due to the recent introduction of Cuc Phuong individuals, and to important differences among the populations of different zoological parks, which increase the total genetic variability. Although the current level of genetic variability is not particularly low, future levels are probably threatened by the current herd sizes and structure. Based on

Fine-scale genetic structure in the critically endangered red-fronted macaw in the absence of geographic and ecological barriers

“…In particular, the continued breeding between close relatives in the captive group in Malaga promoted the lowest genetic diversity and its classification in a single genetic cluster (C3), whose origin in wild populations cannot be identified among the sampled nuclei. This population shows the lowest allelic richness value but a high heterozygosity value, which is expected in the first generations after a founder event with a reduced number of individuals and absence of random mating 59,60 . Whether this cluster corresponds to an unsampled population in the wild or emerged as the result of artificial cross-pairing between relatives, it reveals that genetic identity can be maintained even under conditions of high inbreeding.…”

Using historical captive stocks in conservation. The case of␣the␣lesser white-fronted goose

“…Because prezygotic constraints to interbreeding may be relaxed in ex-situ conditions, hybridisation and introgression are apparently common in captive stocks that have not been managed for conservation purposes. Previous, similar cases are known, for example those of the Asiatic lion (O'Brien et al 1987), yak and bison (Ward et al 1999), Vietnamese sika deer (Thevenon et al 2003), red-legged partridge (Negro et al 2001) and Siamese crocodile (FitzSimmons et al 2002). These examples demonstrate that unintentional-or even intentional-interbreeding of populations or species during captive propagation is rather common.…”

Genetic signatures of population bottlenecks, relatedness, and inbreeding highlight recent and novel conservation concerns in the Egyptian vulture

“…In addition, low genetic diversity is not always the result of a reduction in effective population size, as the former can be high in species with very small, isolated, and declining populations ( Kekkonen, Wikström & Brommer, 2012 ; Woolaver et al, 2013 ). A low genetic diversity may be due to demographic bottlenecks and population rebounds, as well as due to founder events with a reduced number of individuals, and absence of random mating ( Thévenon et al, 2003 ; Kekkonen, Wikström & Brommer, 2012 ). Current levels of neutral genetic diversity, relatedness, and inbreeding are similar to those reported for this species in the study area and other regions in continental Spain using the same suite of microsatellite loci ( Agudo et al, 2011a ).…”