2006/06/30 by Corey J. A. Bradshaw, Yuji Isagi, Shingo Kaneko +2 · 1 voice · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock #Identification and Quantification in Food #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00428.x
openalex publication_date 2006/06/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
The global species extinction crisis has provided the impetus for elaborate translocation, captive breeding, and cloning programs, but more extreme actions may be necessary. We used mitochondrial DNA, Y-chromosome, and nuclear lactoferrin-encoding gene sequencing to identify a wild population of a pure-strain endangered bovid (Bos javanicus) introduced into northern Australia over 150 years ago. This places the Australian population in a different conservation category relative to its domesticated conspecific in Indonesia (i.e., Bali cattle) that has varying degrees of introgression from other domesticated Bos spp. The success of this endangered non-native species demonstrates that although risky, the deliberate introduction of threatened exotic species into non-native habitat may provide, under some circumstances, a biologically feasible option for conserving large herbivores otherwise imperiled in their native range.