2016/10/07 by Arun Kumar, Upashna Rai, Bhupen Roka +2 · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Genetic diversity and population structure #Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock #Silkworms and Sericulture Research #Genetic diversity #Endangered species #Threatened species #Biology #Captive breeding #Inbreeding #Ex situ conservation #Population #Effective population size #Zoology #Microsatellite #Population size #Conservation genetics #Ecology #Evolutionary biology #Habitat #Demography #Allele #Genetics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1186/s40064-016-3437-1
openalex publication_date 2016/10/07 · openalex created_date 2016/10/14 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/19
Red panda (Ailurus fulgens) is threatened across its range by detrimental human activities and rapid habitat changes necessitating captive breeding programs in various zoos globally to save this flagship species from extinction. One of the ultimate aims of ex situ conservation is reintroduction of endangered animals into their natural habitats while maintaining 90 % of the founder genetic diversity. Advances in molecular genetics and microsatellite genotyping techniques make it possible to accurately estimate genetic diversity of captive animals of unknown ancestry. Here we assess genetic diversity of the red panda population in Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling, which plays a pivotal role in ex situ conservation of red panda in India. We generated microsatellite genotypes of fifteen red pandas with a set of fourteen loci. This population is genetically diverse with 68 % observed heterozygosity (H O ) and mean inbreeding (F IS ) coefficient of 0.05. However population viability analysis reveals that this population has a very low survival probability (<2 %) and will rapidly loose its genetic diversity to 37 % mainly due to small population size and skewed male-biased sex ratio. Regular supplementation with a pair of adult individuals every five years will increase survival probability and genetic diversity to 99 and 61 % respectively and will also support future harvesting of individuals for reintroduction into the wild and exchange with other zoos.