Amur leopard DNA signals hope for species
5 August 2009
Numbers of one of the world’s most endangered animals are low but stable, according to a new WWF-backed DNA study in Russia.
Research into the critically endangered Amur leopard, whose range is limited to a 5,000 sq km area in Russia’s Far East, has identified 18 male and 19 female leopards – a small increase on the last census, which estimated the population at below 35 individuals. The even sex ratio is also good news for potential population growth.
The new method uses DNA extracted from faecal samples, scratch marks and hair. The samples are usually gathered in winter when there are prints in the snow. During other seasons, specially trained dogs search out the samples.
The data collected allows scientists to estimate the number of leopards, the sex ratio, and the habitat location of the identified individuals. Researchers first had to learn to differentiate between leopards and other animals, then between males and females. This then enabled them to identify individual leopards from their DNA samples.
“So far the information we’ve received, when studied alongside previous data, confirms that leopard numbers are stable and that there is an optimal sex ratio,” said Sergei Aramilev, Species Conservation Programme Coordinator for WWF-Russia, which supports the study along with other partners.
“We hope in the future that the specialists will also be able to evaluate the genetic diversity of the leopard population which will enable us to see the possibilities for population growth. Out of all existing research methods this is the most progressive and safe, and the collected samples can be processed within two months.”
The research began in 2000 in Primorye, south-east Russia, as a partnership between the Institute for Sustainable Use of Natural Resources (ISUNR), a local Russian NGO, and the University of California. It has since been continued via a partnership between WWF-Russia, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), ISUNR and the Russian government. The samples are processed by Taro Sugimoto, a geneticist from Hokkaido University in Japan.
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