%0 Journal Article %A AN Junhui %A CAI Zhigang %A HOU Rong %A LIU Yuliang %A SHEN Fujun %A WANG Donghui %T The effect of frozen semen of captive giant pandas on their population genetic diversity %D %R 10.16829/j.slxb.150627 %J ACTA THERIOLOGICA SINICA %P 261-269 %V 42 %N 3 %X In the past 34 years of captive giant panda population protection, we have successfully established the world's largest giant panda sperm bank, which has preserved a total of 50 giant panda individuals with more than 7 000 straws of from zen semen. On one hand, frozen semen can preserve the genetic resources of the species for a long time. On the other hand, it can promote population reproduction through artificial insemination (AI). However, the role of frozen semen of captive giant pandas in their population genetic diversity has not been clearly reported. This study firstly analyzed the frozen semen AI data from 2000 to 2014 in Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, and compared the genetic diversities of frozen semen individuals and the captive population. The results showed that the genetic diversities of frozen semen individuals were higher than the captive population in the same breeding year, indicating that frozen semen AI can significantly improve the genetic diversity of the captive giant panda population in the breeding year. Secondly, the mean kinship (mK) of all frozen semen individuals in the sperm bank were calculated and compared with the captive population to explore the potential effect of frozen semen on the genetic diversity of the captive population. The results showed that the sperm bank conserved 21 dead individuals, of which 66. 67% individuals had a lower mK than the captive population. There were 14 semen from surviving individuals over 20 years old, of which 50. 00% individuals had a lower mK than the captive population. There were 15 surviving individuals under 20 years old, of which 53. 33% individuals had a lower mK than the captive population. This result indicated that frozen semen has a great value in protecting the genetic diversity of the captive population. In conclusion, frozen semen not only effectively preserved the genetic resources of giant pandas but also played a positive role in protecting the genetic diversity of the captive population. %U http://www.mammal.cn/EN/10.16829/j.slxb.150627