BACKGROUND: Genetics driven interventions if adopted in conservation breeding projects may enhance the overall success by prioritizing breeding among genetically most competent individuals and delaying or completely diminishing the ill effects of inbreeding.
RESULTS: In the present study, we investigated genetic make-up of 15 tigers housed at five different captive facilities of West Bengal in India and report the moderate level of genetic variation. We identified five tigers based on individual genetic attributes that may be prioritized for future breeding or animal exchange programmes. The occurrence of first and second order related individuals in captivity require management attention and they should be paired considering their immediate genetic background.
CONCLUSIONS: Considering tiger as a case study, we highlight the use of genetic assessment and necessity to validate the studbook records in formulating adaptive management strategies for long-term conservation and management of species of interest.

The zoos manage small populations of endangered big cat species like tiger, lion, and leopard for display, research, and conservation breeding. Genetic management of these populations is essential to ensure long term survival and conservation utility. Here we propose a simple and cost effective microsatellite based protocol for the genetic management of captive big cats. We sampled 36 big cat individuals from Seoul Grand Park Zoo (Republic of Korea) and amplified 33 published microsatellite loci. Overall, allelic richness and gene diversity was found highest for leopards, followed by lions and tigers. Twelve of the thirty-three markers showed a high degree of polymorphism across all target species. These microsatellites provide a high degree of discrimination for tiger (1.45 × 10-8), lion (1.54 × 10-10), and leopard (1.88 × 10-12) and thus can be adopted for the genetic characterization of big cats in accredited zoos globally. During captive breeding, zoo authorities rely on pedigree records maintained in studbooks to ensure mating of genetically fit unrelated individuals. Several studies have reported errors in studbook records of big cat species. Microsatellites are simple and cost effective tool for DNA fingerprinting, estimation of genetic diversity, and paternity assessment. Our unified microsatellite panel (12-plex) for big cats is efficient and can easily be adopted by zoo authorities for regular population management.

The authors describe pathological and microbiological features of mortalities in a captive breeding colony of Lord Howe Island stick insects ( Dryococelus australis) over a period of 18 months. There were 2 peaks of mortality in this period. In the first, insects presented dead with minimal premonitory signs of illness. In the second, affected insects were ataxic with contracted limbs and inability to climb or right themselves. Gross lesions were uncommon but included pigmented plaques on the gut and cloacal prolapse. Histological lesions in both outbreaks indicated a cellular innate immune response including nodulation characterized by Gram-negative bacterial bacilli entrapped within nodules of pigmented hemocytes, and melanization characterized by melanin within hemocyte nodules and around bacteria. Hemolymph culture findings varied and often yielded a mixed growth. Pure growth of Serratia marcescens was cultured in 44% of animals in Outbreak 1, while pure growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was cultured in 30% of animals in Outbreak 2. Cases with S. marcescens-positive culture often showed inflammation at the foregut-midgut junction. The frequency of mixed bacterial culture results did not allow firm conclusions about causality to be made, and may indicate primary bacterial infection or increased susceptibility to hemolymph colonization with an opportunistic pathogen. These findings highlight the utility of histopathology combined with ancillary testing when investigating mortality in captive insect colonies.

Myriad human activities increasingly threaten the existence of many species. A variety of conservation interventions such as habitat restoration, protected areas, and captive breeding have been used to prevent extinctions. Evaluating the effectiveness of these interventions requires appropriate statistical methods, given the quantity and quality of available data. Historically, analysis of variance has been used with some form of predetermined before-after control-impact design to estimate the effects of large-scale experiments or conservation interventions. However, ad hoc retrospective study designs or the presence of random effects at multiple scales may preclude the use of these tools. We evaluated the effects of a large-scale supplementation program on the density of adult Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha from the Snake River basin in the northwestern United States currently listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. We analyzed 43 years of data from 22 populations, accounting for random effects across time and space using a form of Bayesian hierarchical time-series model common in analyses of financial markets. We found that varying degrees of supplementation over a period of 25 years increased the density of natural-origin adults, on average, by 0-8% relative to nonsupplementation years. Thirty-nine of the 43 year effects were at least two times larger in magnitude than the mean supplementation effect, suggesting common environmental variables play a more important role in driving interannual variability in adult density. Additional residual variation in density varied considerably across the region, but there was no systematic difference between supplemented and reference populations. Our results demonstrate the power of hierarchical Bayesian models to detect the diffuse effects of management interventions and to quantitatively describe the variability of intervention success. Nevertheless, our study could not address whether ecological factors (e.g., competition) were more important than genetic considerations (e.g., inbreeding depression) in determining the response to supplementation.