Management implications of genetic studies for ex situ populations of three critically endangered Asian Gyps vultures

Captive breeding and ex situ conservation have become important tools in species conservation programmes. The effectiveness of the management of captive populations can be hampered by the absence of pedigree data, but molecular markers can be used to inform conservation objectives and reduce inbreeding in the captive population. Using microsatellite markers, we examined the genetic diversity and relatedness among wild‐caught individuals of three critically endangered A sian vulture species, G yps bengalensis , G yps indicus and G yps tenuirostris , populations established for captive breeding. Estimates of the inbreeding coefficient ( f ) were low, indicating that populations of all three species do not appear to be inbred. Moreover, the data show that a large proportion of wild‐taken birds were unrelated individuals (94.6, 87.1 and 85.3% in G . bengalensis , G . indicus and G . tenuirostris , respectively). No significant genetic differentiation ( F ST ) was observed between historic and 2000/2001 populations of G . bengalensis in P akistan and I ndia. However, the more recent sampling (2002–2006) in P akistan showed a significant difference from I ndia. A genetic signal of a demographic bottleneck in all three species was found in some ( M ‐ratio test), but not all, tests (heterozygote excess and mode shift in allele frequencies). Levels of genetic diversity in G . bengalensis and G . indicus populations were comparable to levels prior to or soon after the start of their decline, respectively, suggesting that adequate numbers of birds exist in captivity for these two species and reflect neutral diversity levels observed in the wild. The genetic data obtained from this study allow us to minimize the loss of neutral genetic diversity in small wild and captive populations and to identify related pairs to avoid inbreeding depression.