Mature individuals of the cinereous vulture, Aegypius monachus, number 15,600–21,000 birds worldwide and population size of the bird has been in decline due to poisoned baits and the decreasing availability of food. Approximately 12–16% of the global population of cinereous vultures spend their winters in Korean regions that are hence important areas. In this study, the population structure and genetic diversity of the cinereous vulture in South Korea were evaluated to clarify the relationships between the Mongolian and South Korean populations with genetic diversity assessed using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and microsatellite markers. In the South Korean population, two unique haplotypes (Hap8 and Hap9) were newly discovered in their mtDNA, with three polymorphic sites and low-level genetic diversity. Most of the cinereous vultures in South Korea were represented by a single haplotype, Hap8, and analyses of phylogenetic trees and the haplotype network illustrated that Hap8 was clustered in Lineage D (Mongolia). Notably, the other haplotype, Hap9, was only identified in one individual in South Korea with an unexpected clustering in Lineage C (Caucasus region, Armenia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan populations), which indicated that it might have been a vagrant bird. The microsatellite loci (n = 21) isolated from South Korean cinereous vultures indicated comparatively lower genetic variation, with a K value of 1. These results indicate that the origin of the South Korean population is most likely from one source population of the Far Eastern cluster (Mongolian population), which was also supported by the outcome of mtDNA analysis. This study improves our understanding of the population structure and genetic diversity between the Mongolian and South Korean cinereous vulture populations.

灰秃鹫的成熟个体，Aegypius monachus，全世界有 15,600-21,000 只鸟，由于毒饵和食物供应的减少，鸟类的种群规模一直在下降。全球大约 12-16% 的灰秃鹫在韩国地区过冬，这些地区因此是重要地区。在这项研究中，评估了韩国灰秃鹫的种群结构和遗传多样性，以阐明蒙古和韩国种群之间的关系，以及使用线粒体 DNA (mtDNA) 和微卫星标记评估的遗传多样性。在韩国人群中，在其 mtDNA 中新发现了两种独特的单倍型（Hap8 和 Hap9），具有三个多态位点和低水平的遗传多样性。韩国的大多数灰秃鹫都由一个单倍型 Hap8 代表，系统发育树和单倍型网络的分析表明，Hap8 聚集在谱系 D（蒙古）中。值得注意的是，另一种单倍型 Hap9 仅在韩国的一个个体中发现，并在 C 系（高加索地区、亚美尼亚、格鲁吉亚和哈萨克斯坦种群）中意外聚集，这表明它可能是一只流浪鸟。微卫星位点 (n = 21) 从韩国灰秃鹫中分离出的遗传变异相对较低，K值为 1。这些结果表明，韩国种群的起源很可能来自远东集群的一个来源种群（蒙古种群） ，这也得到了 mtDNA 分析结果的支持。这项研究提高了我们对蒙古和韩国灰秃鹫种群之间种群结构和遗传多样性的理解。