Species identification and molecular sexing from feces of Kashmir stag (Cervus elaphus hanglu)

Mukesh,; Sharma, Lalit Kumar; Charoo, Samina Amin; Sathyakumar, Sambandam

doi:10.1007/s12686-015-0475-x

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Another encouraging result from this study that has significant swamp deer conservation implications is the moderate heterozygosity and low inbreeding status of this population. The heterozygosity value ranged between 0.38 to 0.84 across loci (Average Ho= 0.51, SD=0.10) and is consistent with other deer species (Kuehn et al 2003;Feulner et al 2004;Lee et al 2015;Mukesh et al 2015), including previous studies on swamp deer (Kumar et al 2017). However, the low inbreeding value (FIS) contradicts earlier reports from JJCR (Kumar et al 2017) which forms only a part of the entire Ganges population.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Functional connectivity in northern swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii) population across a fragmented, human-dominated landscape along Gangetic Plains of north India: Implications for conservation in non-protected areas

Paul

Saha

Nigam

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The Indian subcontinent has witnessed disproportionate declines in large mammalian herbivore communities. The northern swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii) exemplifies the conservation challenges of typical non-protected area species, where apart from distribution status other ecological information is limited for the upper Gangetic basin population. We combined elements of radio-telemetry and conservation genetics to evaluate dispersal patterns, population connectivity and assess genetic variation and inbreeding status of this population living across a highly human-dominated area. We genetically identified 266 unique swamp deer and further analyses revealed presence of two spatially-admixed genetic lineages with moderate heterozygosity (Ho=0.51, SD= 0.10) and low inbreeding (FIS=0.133) status. Multi-disciplinary evidence suggests that the small, isolated grassland patches between Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve (JJCR) and Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary (HWLS) are highly preferred by swamp deer during migrations and are genetically connected. The southern part of the area in HWLS showed early signatures of genetic discontinuity that require immediate conservation attention. We hypothesized that the human settlement history of this landscape, river dynamics and species ability to negotiate various pressures and disperse has helped to maintain such connectivity. While these signatures are encouraging for this small, isolated cervid population, careful management interventions are required to ensure the integrity and functionality of this landscape. We recommend a scientifically robust population estimation approach across this landscape and a multi-stakeholder-driven strategies to augment population and habitat recovery, plantation and riverscape management to ensure long-term survival of this species.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Functional connectivity in northern swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii) population across a fragmented, human-dominated landscape along Gangetic Plains of north India: Implications for conservation in non-protected areas

Paul

Saha

Nigam

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…Studying bear movement patterns using traditional field techniques is difficult due to their crepuscular/nocturnal behavior, large home range sizes and their use of steep and rugged terrain. Therefore, molecular markers and non-invasive genetic sampling have been used in several studies to study the various important aspects of ecology and genetics of free ranging animals including gene flow [ 17 ], population genetic structure [ 18 , 19 ], population demography [ 20 ], genetic diversity [ 21 , 22 ], sex identification [ 23 , 24 ], individual identification [ 18 , 25 ] and evolutionary history [ 22 , 26 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conflict Bear Translocation: Investigating Population Genetics and Fate of Bear Translocation in Dachigam National Park, Jammu and Kashmir, India

et al. 2015

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The Asiatic black bear population in Dachigam landscape, Jammu and Kashmir is well recognized as one of the highest density bear populations in India. Increasing incidences of bear-human interactions and the resultant retaliatory killings by locals have become a serious threat to the survivorship of black bears in the Dachigam landscape. The Department of Wildlife Protection in Jammu and Kashmir has been translocating bears involved in conflicts, henceforth ‘conflict bears’ from different sites in Dachigam landscape to Dachigam National Park as a flagship activity to mitigate conflicts. We undertook this study to investigate the population genetics and the fate of bear translocation in Dachigam National Park. We identified 109 unique genotypes in an area of ca. 650 km2 and observed bear population under panmixia that showed sound genetic variability. Molecular tracking of translocated bears revealed that mostly bears (7 out of 11 bears) returned to their capture sites, possibly due to homing instincts or habituation to the high quality food available in agricultural croplands and orchards, while only four bears remained in Dachigam National Park after translocation. Results indicated that translocation success was most likely to be season dependent as bears translocated during spring and late autumn returned to their capture sites, perhaps due to the scarcity of food inside Dachigam National Park while bears translocated in summer remained in Dachigam National Park due to availability of surplus food resources. Thus, the current management practices of translocating conflict bears, without taking into account spatio-temporal variability of food resources in Dachigam landscape seemed to be ineffective in mitigating conflicts on a long-term basis. However, the study highlighted the importance of molecular tracking of bears to understand their movement patterns and socio-biology in tough terrains like Dachigam landscape.

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“…Thus, live animals are relatively easily sexed. Previous studies have demonstrated the ability to sex red deer and other ruminants by applying polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques to organic samples, such as feces and bones (Huber et al, 2002; Jafar & Flint, 1995; Pajares et al, 2007; Pfeiffer & Brenig, 2005; Sharma et al, 2015; Zenke et al, 2022). DNA testing can be expensive, time‐consuming, and prone to failure in the context of zooarchaeology, depending on the number of specimens found at a given site and their state of preservation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An osteometric analysis of elk (Cervus elaphus manitobensis) from Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Brandes

Birch

2023

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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Teeth are commonly preserved in the zooarchaeological record and can be used to estimate the age of individuals in a faunal assemblage. However, there are currently no criteria for discerning the sex of elk based on dental metric characteristics. Here, we present the results of an osteometric analysis of modern elk (Cervus elaphus manitobensis) from Great Smoky Mountains National Park to create an age profile for the sample, establish metrical parameters for evaluating sex, and discern the relationship between age and size. The analysis of tooth development stages in younger elk was combined with the assessment of occlusal wear in older elk to create an age profile of our sample population. The length and breadth of mandibular third molars produced bimodal distributions that suggest these measurements can be used to differentiate sex in this population, and diastema length showed a curvilinear association with age (R2 = 0.71). This dataset provides a useful comparative sample for future studies on ageing and sexing in zooarchaeology, conservation paleobiology, and wildlife resources management.

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Species identification and molecular sexing from feces of Kashmir stag (Cervus elaphus hanglu)

Cited by 9 publications

References 16 publications

Functional connectivity in northern swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii) population across a fragmented, human-dominated landscape along Gangetic Plains of north India: Implications for conservation in non-protected areas

Functional connectivity in northern swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii) population across a fragmented, human-dominated landscape along Gangetic Plains of north India: Implications for conservation in non-protected areas

Conflict Bear Translocation: Investigating Population Genetics and Fate of Bear Translocation in Dachigam National Park, Jammu and Kashmir, India

An osteometric analysis of elk (Cervus elaphus manitobensis) from Great Smoky Mountains National Park

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