Abstract:

The Annanba Wild Camel National Nature Reserve in Gansu Province is an important habitat for wild camels (Camelus ferus) in China. It is also one of the important areas for the reproduction of wild camels. Due to reasons such as scarcity and living habits, the genetic diversity and population size of wild camels in the Annanba Reserve remain unclear. In this study, 254 samples of fresh feces of wild camels were collected from the Annanba Reserve in 2023 - 2024. Species identification was performed by morphological observation and mitochondrial Cyt b gene. Six pairs of highly polymorphic microsatellite primers were selected for genetic diversity analysis. The wild camel population was estimated by Capwire using noninvasive marker recapture method. The results showed that the observed heterozygosity of the six microsatellite loci ranged from 0.402 to 0.962, with an average of 0.795; the expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.444 to 0.901, with an average of 0.772. 123 different wild camels were identified in this study, 83 were female and 40 were male. The low number of males may be related to sampling caused by adult outliers.The number of wild camels was estimated to be 275 based on the TRIM model, with a 95% confidence interval of 271 to 282. In conclusion, the wild camel population in the Annanba Reserve has a moderate level of genetic diversity and a relatively low degree of inbreeding, which is conducive to the recovery of the population size. There are approximately 275 wild camels distributed in the reserve, which can provide important basis for the protection of the wild camel population and the high-quality construction of the reserve.

Key words: Wild camels (Camelus ferus), Microsatellite, Individual identification, Genetic diversity, Population size

摘要：

甘肃安南坝野骆驼国家级自然保护区为全球野生双峰驼（Camelus ferus）的三大栖息地之一，是野生双峰驼繁殖的重要区域。由于种群数量稀少和生活习性等原因，该保护区野生双峰驼种群遗传多样性及其种群数量长期缺乏科学统计。本研究于2023—2024年，在安南坝国家级自然保护区采集了254份新鲜粪便，通过粪便形态和线粒体Cytb基因进行物种鉴定，筛选了6对高多态性微卫星引物，用于遗传多样性分析，同时用标志重捕法估算了保护区野生双峰驼的种群数量。结果表明：6个微卫星位点的观测杂合度在0.402 ~ 0.962之间，平均值为0.795；期望杂合度在0.444 ~ 0.901之间，平均值为0.772。共鉴定出123峰野生双峰驼个体，其中雌性83峰，雄性40峰。雄性个体较少，可能与其成年后离群导致的采样偏差有关。基于TRIM模型估算野生双峰驼数量为275峰，95%置信区间为271 ~ 282峰。综上，安南坝国家级自然保护区野生双峰驼种群具有中等水平的遗传多样性，近交程度较低，有利于种群数量的恢复。该保护区分布着约275峰野生双峰驼，可为野生双峰驼种群保护和高质量建设提供重要依据。

关键词: 野生双峰驼, 微卫星, 个体识别, 遗传多样性, 种群数量