IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Pomilla, C.; Rabinowitz, A.; Hunter, L.; Rabinowitz, S.; Amato, G. | |
| Conservation Genetics of Jaguars (_Panthera onca_) and Other Endangered Felids Using a Noninvasive Approach | |
| 2007 Conference Proceeding | |
The Global Felid Genetic Program, in collaboration with WCS and Panthera Foundation, focuses on the molecular ecology of endangered felid populations, promoting, when preferable, the use of noninvasive sampling. The program attempts to identify genetic threats and to provide needed technical assistance and information for applied conservation management decisions. Our pilot project on the jaguars of Central and South America aims to assess how genetic diversity and structure of jaguar populations have been affected by habitat loss. Following deforestation, jaguar range has halved since the beginning of the 1900. Habitat fragmentation is expected to reduce genetic diversity and increase genetic structure due to isolation and drift. However, loss of genetic diversity may be slowed by fine-scale spatial structure such as isolation-by-distance, which characterize many continuous populations, masking a population size reduction. Analyses of population genetic structure of jaguars at different scales, from site to regional and across the range, will help us detect fine-scale natural structure and will allow for comparisons between areas which have been human-impacted at a different degree. As part of a collaborative effort, scat samples are being collected throughout the jaguar range, 98 samples have been obtained from Gran Chaco National Park, Bolivia, and 269 samples from Cockscomb Basin, Belize. Preliminary analyses of 50 Bolivian samples resulted in a 98% species identification success rate, and in the identification of 23 jaguars. Mitochondrial DNA diversity (590bp of the control region, h=0.2667, n=0.00118) was low when compared to previously published data for comparisons across the range. Optimization for a molecular sexing essay and 17 microsatellite markers selected from literature is underway. |
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