Research and Conservation, Copenhagen Zoo, Frederiksberg, Denmark.
Heredity (Edinb). 2013 Jun;110(6):586-93. doi: 10.1038/hdy.2013.9. Epub 2013 Mar 27.
Despite ample focus on this endangered species, conservation planning for chimpanzees residing outside Africa has proven a challenge because of the lack of ancestry information. Here, we analysed the largest number of chimpanzee samples to date, examining microsatellites in >100 chimpanzees from the range of the species in Africa, and 20% of the European zoo population. We applied the knowledge about subspecies differentiation throughout equatorial Africa to assign origin to chimpanzees in the largest conservation management programme globally. A total of 63% of the genotyped chimpanzees from the European zoos could be assigned to one of the recognized subspecies. The majority being of West African origin (40%) will help consolidate the current breeding programme for this subspecies and the identification of individuals belonging to the two other subspecies so far found in European zoos can form the basis for breeding programmes for these. Individuals of various degree of mixed ancestry made up 37% of the genotyped European zoo population and thus highlight the need for appropriate management programmes guided by genetic analysis to preserve maximum genetic diversity and reduce hybridization among subspecies.
尽管人们对这个濒危物种给予了充分关注，但由于缺乏祖先信息，非洲以外地区的黑猩猩保护规划仍然具有挑战性。在这里，我们分析了迄今为止数量最多的黑猩猩样本，检测了来自非洲范围内的 100 多只黑猩猩和欧洲动物园种群的 20%的微卫星。我们利用关于赤道非洲亚种分化的知识，将全球最大的保护管理计划中的黑猩猩的起源进行了归类。在欧洲动物园中，总共 63%的黑猩猩可以被分配到一个已识别的亚种中。其中大部分来自西非（40%），这将有助于巩固该亚种的当前繁殖计划，而到目前为止在欧洲动物园中发现的其他两个亚种的个体的识别，将为这些亚种的繁殖计划奠定基础。具有不同程度混合祖先的个体占欧洲动物园种群的 37%，因此突出了需要制定适当的管理计划，以遗传分析为指导，以保持最大的遗传多样性，并减少亚种间的杂交。
