 Reference Base  Inbreeding and outbreeding in African rhinoceros species |
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| Location: |
Africa |
| Subject: |
Reproduction |
| Species: |
African Rhino Species |
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Effective breeding strategies in ex situ conservation require an optimal balance between inbreeding and outbreeding,as both can lead to a decrease in population fitness. Thus optimizing breeding strategies to maintaingenetic diversity entails a profound knowledge of the actual situation (including conservation units). This studyexamines the consequences of inbreeding and outbreeding in captive populations of two threatened species,the white and the black rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum and Diceros bicornis), based on data from recentstudbooks (2004). We also assessed the conservation units of the black rhinoceros, whose classification intosubspecies remains a matter of discussion. Theory predicts that juvenile mortality increases with increasingdegree of inbreeding. We calculated inbreeding coefficients and examined possible correlations with juvenilemortality rates. To assess the conservation units of the black rhinoceros, we compared juvenile mortality ratesof outbred animals with those of non-outbred animals and additionally performed a geographical distanceanalysis. With both approaches we aimed to draw breeding borderlines between putative conservation units topreserve genetic diversity. Our assessment of the current inbreeding situation based on records in internationalstudbooks was severely limited by small sample sizes in both the white and the black rhinoceros. For the samereason we could not evaluate the conservation units in the black rhinoceros. Nonetheless, we conclude thatinbreeding and outbreeding must be followed closely in both species, as their consequences can be severe.
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