Effectiveness of Noninvasive DNA Analysis to Reveal Isolated-Forest Use by the Sable Martes zibellina on Eastern Hokkaido, Japan

Towards more compassionate wildlife research through the 3Rs principles: moving from invasive to non-invasive methods

“…Other potential sources of DNA include scent marks (Malherbe et al 2009), snow footprints (Dalen et al 2007), urine (Nagai et al 2014, Nakamura et al 2017, insect exu-viae (Kranzfelder et al 2016, Nguyen et al 2017, spider webs (Xu et al 2015, Blake et al 2016, antlers (Hoffmann andGriebeler 2013, Kim et al 2015) or shed skin (Swanson et al 2006, Horreo et al 2015.…”

Low genetic diversity in an isolated red fox (Vulpes vulpes) population on Mt. Hakodate, Japan, revealed by microsatellite analyses of fecal samples

“…Species composition and monitoring based on noninvasive genetic samples Some previous studies have briefly surveyed other wild animal populations, including the red fox, using noninvasive genetic samples as in our study (Fernandes et al 2008;Shimatani et al 2008;Statham et al 2012). Other, more extensive studies have used noninvasive samples to monitor species or individual distributions, population size, and genetic diversity across multiple years in various species, including the gray wolf (C. lupus) (Stenglein et al 2010;Stansbury et al 2014), San Joaquin kit fox (V. macrotis mutica) (Wilbert et al 2015), Amur tiger (Panthera tigris) (Sugimoto et al 2012), Far Eastern leopard (P. pardus orientalis) (Sugimoto et al 2013), and sable (Martes zibellina) (Nagai et al 2014), but there has been no similar previous study on the red fox.…”

“…Oishi et al (2010) determined genotypes with success rates of 23.3-69.8% per locus in individual identification of red foxes in the Shiretoko National Park, Hokkaido. Nagai et al (2014) genotyped sables in eastern Hokkaido with success rates of 47.8-76.1% per locus (average, 63.6%). Our high success rates were likely due to a high frequency of sampling and the method used to preserve fecal samples.…”