ORIGINAL PAPERS

Study on genetic diversity and population size of wild camels in Annanba Reserve, Gansu Province

  • Hao WU ,
  • Ying LIANG ,
  • Fatao HU ,
  • Haili FU ,
  • Wucheng XU ,
  • Peng YU
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  • 1.Management and Protection Center of Gansu Annanba Wild Camel National Nature Reserve, Jiuquan 736400, China
    2.Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730000, China

Received date: 2025-04-18

  Accepted date: 2025-08-08

  Online published: 2026-06-04

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.

Cite this article

Hao WU , Ying LIANG , Fatao HU , Haili FU , Wucheng XU , Peng YU . Study on genetic diversity and population size of wild camels in Annanba Reserve, Gansu Province[J]. ACTA THERIOLOGICA SINICA, 2026 , 46(3) : 349 -357 . DOI: 10.16829/j.slxb.151091

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