Genetic analysis of a successful repatriation programme: giant Galápagos tortoises

As natural populations of endangered species dwindle to precarious levels, remaining members are sometimes brought into captivity, allowed to breed and their offspring returned to the natural habitat. One goal of such repatriation programmes is to retain as much of the genetic variation of the speci...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2004-02, Vol.271 (1537), p.341-345
Main Authors: Milinkovitch, Michel C., Monteyne, Daniel, Gibbs, James P., Fritts, Thomas H., Tapia, Washington, Snell, Howard L., Tiedemann, Ralph, Caccone, Adalgisa, Powell, Jeffrey R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alleles
Animals
Breeding
Breeding Programme
Conservation Genetics
Conservation of Natural Resources
DNA
DNA Primers
Ecuador
Española
Evolutionary genetics
Genetic Carrier Screening
Genetic loci
Genetic Variation
Geochelone
Geochelone nigra
Giant Galápagos Tortoise
Medical genetics
Microsatellite Repeats - genetics
Microsatellites
Population genetics
Repatriation
Reproduction - physiology
Tortoises
Turtles - genetics
Turtles - physiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:As natural populations of endangered species dwindle to precarious levels, remaining members are sometimes brought into captivity, allowed to breed and their offspring returned to the natural habitat. One goal of such repatriation programmes is to retain as much of the genetic variation of the species as possible. A taxon of giant Galápagos tortoises on the island of Española has been the subject of a captive breeding-repatriation programme for 33 years. Core breeders, consisting of 12 females and three males, have produced more than 1200 offspring that have been released on Española where in situ reproduction has recently been observed. Using microsatellite DNA markers, we have determined the maternity and paternity of 132 repatriated offspring. Contributions of the breeders are highly skewed. This has led to a further loss of genetic variation that is detrimental to the long-term survival of the population. Modifications to the breeding programme could alleviate this problem.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2003.2607