Oklander Luciana Inés, Caputo Mariela, Kowalewski Martin, Anfuso Jorge, Corach Daniel
Grupo de Investigación en Genética Aplicada (GIGA), Instituto de Biología Subtropical (IBS), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET)-Universidad Nacional de Misiones (UNaM), Nodo Posadas, Jujuy 1745, N3300NFK, Posadas, Misiones, Argentina.
Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología, Biotecnología y Genética, Cátedra de Genética Forense y Servicio de Huellas Digitales Genéticas, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica., Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET)-Universidad de Buenos Aires., Junín 956, C1113AAD, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Primates. 2021 May;62(3):521-528. doi: 10.1007/s10329-021-00896-9. Epub 2021 Feb 20.
Despite strong support from the media, the reintroduction of animals into natural environments does not always achieve its goal. Alouatta caraya is the primate species facing the greatest hunting pressure due to the illegal pet trade in Argentina. Confiscations of this species are common, as is the voluntary surrender of animals by owners no longer able or willing to care for them. These animals ultimately arrive at rehabilitation centers and, in many cases, are released into natural environments that may differ from the original sites where they were captured. Until recently, the lack of genetic analysis of the individuals involved led to biased relocation decisions. We followed the reintroduction of 12 A. caraya individuals in a protected area (Isla Palacio, Misiones, Argentina). The presence of potential predators such as pumas (Puma concolor) and jaguars (Panthera onca) in this area was confirmed by camera traps, footprints and feces. After the disappearance of four A. caraya at the reintroduction site, we investigated the applicability of genetic assignment tests based on genotypic data to accurately identify predated individuals. Genetic analyses allowed us to determine the predator species (P. onca) and to identify the predated individuals as two of the reintroduced animals. This procedure is promising for identifying the remains of predated individuals, and can contribute to the design of reintroduction policies based on scientific evidence.
尽管得到了媒体的大力支持，但将动物重新引入自然环境并不总是能实现其目标。由于阿根廷的非法宠物贸易，卡拉亚吼猴是面临最大捕猎压力的灵长类物种。没收这种动物的情况很常见，主人不再有能力或意愿照顾它们而自愿交出动物的情况也很常见。这些动物最终会被送到康复中心，在很多情况下，会被放归到可能与它们被捕的原始地点不同的自然环境中。直到最近，由于缺乏对相关个体的基因分析，导致重新安置的决定存在偏差。我们追踪了12只卡拉亚吼猴被重新引入一个保护区（阿根廷米西奥内斯省的帕拉西奥岛）后的情况。通过相机陷阱、脚印和粪便证实了该地区存在美洲狮（美洲狮）和美洲豹（美洲豹）等潜在捕食者。在重新引入地点有4只卡拉亚吼猴消失后，我们研究了基于基因型数据的基因分配测试在准确识别被捕食个体方面的适用性。基因分析使我们能够确定捕食者物种（美洲豹），并确定被捕食个体为两只重新引入的动物。这一程序在识别被捕食个体的遗骸方面很有前景，并有助于基于科学证据设计重新引入政策。
