IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Rozhnov, V.V.; Lukarevskiy, V.S.; Sorokin, P.A. | |
| Application of molecular genetic characteristics for reintroduction of the leopard (_Pantehra pardus_) in the Caucasus | |
| 2011 Doklady Biological Sciences (437): 280-285 | |
Within the framework of the Program of North Persian leopard Reintroduction in the Caucasus, the data on genetic polymorphism in leopard (_P. pardus saxicolor_) have been obtained for the first time from natural populations of the Russian part of the Caucasus (Krasnodarkrai, North Ossetia), Transcaucasia (Azerbaijan, Armenia), Iran, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan. Molecular genetic approaches to subspecies taxonomy of leopards of unknown (potentially hybrid) origin from zoological gardens and breeding centers have been developed. This analysis with the use of 11 microsatellite loci and a fragment of the NADH5 mitochondrial gene was efficiently used for identification of individuals acceptable for breeding and reintroduction in the West Caucasus. Until recently, the leopard _P. pardus_ was rather widespread in the Caucasus and occupied practically all mountainous territories, but its population drastically decreased in the late 19th and early 20th centuries because of intense extermination and disruption of the food resources, to the extent of complete extermination in many regions. In 1950, only single specimens of this species survived in the Caucasus; since the 1960s-1970s, practically no encounters with leopards have been reported. |
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