To the genetic rescue of the last leopards of Arabia

MADRID 29 ()

The release of captive-bred Arabian leopards carefully selected for their genes may make a significant contribution to your successful recovery.

An international team of scientists, from the University of Kent, the University of East Anglia, UCL (University College London), Nottingham-Trent University and the Diwan of the Royal Court of Oman, examined the remote Dhofar mountain range in southern Oman, to determine how many of Arabia’s last big cats survive.

By deploying camera traps to identify individual leopards and conducting DNA analysis of wild leopard scat along with samples from the captive population, the team estimates that There could only be 51 wild leopards left in Oman, distributed in three isolated, genetically impoverished but distinct subpopulations.

Despite revealing extremely low levels of genetic diversity in the wild leopard population in Oman, team discovered higher levels of genetic diversity in captive leopards across the region, particularly among several individuals originating from neighboring Yemen who helped found the current captive breeding population. This important genetic resource has the potential to play an important role in the successful recovery of the Arabian leopard.

GENETIC RESCUE

The team’s research, published in Evolutionary Applications, showed that the dwindling regional wild population could recover more effectively through a “genetic rescue”, That is, the introduction of captive-bred leopard cubs, which harbor the greatest amount of genetic diversity, into the wild population. However, their predictions indicate that for genetic rescue to establish the most viable populations through leopard reintroduction, it is necessary to carefully evaluate the benefit that the new genes can bring, particularly because captive leopards may already be inbred.

The study used conservation genetic analyses, state-of-the-art computer simulations and extensive field work in Oman to closely examine Arabian leopard DNA and assess the risk of future extinction, as well as predict how genetic rescue can ensure the viability of the leopard. The authors say their findings They could help other threatened species.

Co-author Dr Jim Labisko, from the UCL Center for Biodiversity and Environment Research, said it’s a statement: “The combination of multiple methods of study, monitoring and sampling of leopard populations has been crucial for us to now determine that genetic rescue could be an achievable means“. by which to help recover the Arabian leopard

“Camera capture meant we were able to count and identify wild leopards individually, analyzes of wild leopard scats and sampling material from captive animals provided information on current levels of genetic diversity within the existing population and the use of crucially important museum material collections indicate that significant levels of genetic diversity had already been lost by the end of the 20th century, mainly due to the culling of leopards.

THE LAST BIG CAT LEFT IN THE REGION

“Our combined modeling of this data puts us in a considerably better-informed position to determine the next steps in the long-term recovery of the iconic Arabian leopard. the last big cat left in the region.

Professor Jim Groombridge, who led the research at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent, explained how the genetic analysis was carried out: “In collaboration with the Diwan of the Royal Court in Oman, we examined and collected faeces from leopard from all over the world. Dhofar mountain range, and we extracted DNA from them that we analyzed using microsatellite DNA markers to quantify genetic diversity.”

First author Dr. Hadi Al Hikmani, Arabian leopard conservation lead at the AlUla Royal Commission in Saudi Arabia, described the motivation for this study: “The Arabian leopard is one of the rarest carnivores in the world and is extraordinarily elusive. The only way to monitor these leopards in the wild is deploy camera traps high in mountain ranges where leopards live and collect the excrement they leave in mountain passes for DNA analysis.