Three decades of Snow leopards Panther a uncia in captivity

Abstract

The international studbook for Snow leopards Panthera uncia was established at Helsinki Zoo in 1976. This paper reports on the status of the captive population over the last three decades and contains genetic and demographic analysis using the Single Population Analysis and Records Keeping System computer program. The number of collections maintaining the species has increased from ten in 1961 to 160 in 1991 and the captive population as at 1 January 1992 was 541. A total of 1599 Snow leopards have been listed in the studbook of which 27% (428), one‐third of wild‐caught and a quarter of captive‐bred animals, have bred. The captive population has 53 founders 11 of which are still living. Founder genetic contribution ranges from 0–1 to 8‐6% with a mean representation of 1–8±1–95%. As at January 1992 98% of the living population was captive bred.

Population monitoring of snow leopards using camera trapping in Naryn State Reserve, Kyrgyzstan, between 2016 and 2019

“…We have already registered three litters for her: two subadults in 2014 (data from the Kaiberen Wildlife Research and Conservation Project of the Shinshu University and Naryn State Nature Reserve (KWRCPSUNSNR)), one subadult (Merim) in 2016 and three cubs born in 2017. In captivity, litters are usually composed by one to five cubs, with a mean of 2.1 cubs 29,30 , which is in line with our observations. In the wild, in Mongolia the survival probability before two years of age has been estimated at 0.83 (+/−0.15) 11 .…”

Genetic assessment of a conservation breeding program of the houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata undulata) in Morocco, based on pedigree and molecular analyses

“…Similarly, average inbreeding coefficients remained weak and much lower than 0.1 (Figure 1b), while the proportion of individuals with an individual inbreeding coefficient equal to or above 0.1 decreased (Figure 1c). In 2017, average inbreeding coefficient ( 2017 ranging from 0.0004 to 0.003; Table 2) and average mean kinship (equal to 0.008; Table 2) were generally lower than those of other, usually seen as, large conservation breeding programs, such as the golden‐headed lion tamarins Leontopithecus chrysomelas (average Mk = 0.0157; Ballou & Mace, 1990), the whooping crane Grus Americana (average Mk = 0.0325, average F = 0.0743; Boardman, Mace, Peregoy, & Ivy, 2017), the snow leopard Uncia Uncia (average Mk = 0.03, average F = 0.03; Blomqvist, 2007), or the cheetah Acinonyx jubatus (average Mk = 0.0273, average F = 0.0024; Crosier, Moloney, & Andrews, 2017). However, the 2017 captive population of houbara differed from these programs because of its size (i.e., 8648 individuals for houbara vs. 297 for the golden‐headed lion tamarins, 201 for the whooping crane, 445 for the snow leopard, and 315 for the cheetah), its number of founders (i.e., 262 for houbara vs. 83 for the golden‐headed lion tamarin, 65 for the whooping crane, 56 for the snow leopard, and 93 for the cheetah), and its strong connection to the free‐ranging population through regular collection of founders.…”

Extreme in Every Way: Exceedingly Low Genetic Diversity in Snow Leopards Due to Persistently Small Population Size

“…Using snow leopard studbooks 73,74 , we compiled information on all of the ancestors of the five captive-born individuals included in this study. The wild origin of their ancestors is mostly unknown; however, each sample has a few ancestors for which there is a wild origin location listed (Supplementary Fig.…”