Abstract The reintroduction of the scimitar-horned oryx to Chad is a multi-disciplinary endeavour, planned and implemented over the past decade, utilizing a wide range of conservation science applications to maximise the chances of long-term population sustainability. The principle of incorporating genetic diversity information into founder selection for species reintroductions is widely recognized; however, in practice, a full assessment of available ex-situ genetic variation is rarely attempted prior to identifying individuals for release. In this study we present the results of over ten years of research analyzing and interpreting the genetic diversity present in the key source populations for the Chad scimitar-horned oryx reintroduction. Three empirical genetic datasets (mitochondrial DNA sequence, nuclear DNA microsatellite and SNP markers) comprising over 500 individuals sampled from public and private institutions were analysed, accompanied by simulation studies to address applied questions relating to management of the reintroduction. The results strongly demonstrate the importance of conservation genetic analysis in ensuring that founders represent the greatest breadth of evolutionary diversity available. The inclusion of both intensively and lightly managed collections allowed us to bridge the gap between studbook and group managed populations, enabling the inclusion of individuals from populations that lack historic data on their origins, but which may hold unique diversity of significant conservation value. Importantly, however, our study also reveals the potential risks of applying standard population genetic approaches to multiple captive populations, for which small founder sizes are likely to strongly bias results, with potentially serious consequences for the genetic management of conservation breeding programmes.

中文翻译：

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圈养保护遗传管理的好处和陷阱：评估弯角羚羊的多样性以支持重新引入计划

摘要 将弯刀角羚羊重新引入乍得是一项多学科的努力，在过去十年中计划和实施，利用广泛的保护科学应用来最大限度地提高长期人口可持续性的机会。将遗传多样性信息纳入物种重新引入的创始人选择的原则得到广泛认可；然而，实际上，在确定释放个体之前，很少尝试对可用的异地遗传变异进行全面评估。在这项研究中，我们展示了十多年的研究结果，这些研究分析和解释了乍得弯刀角羚羊重新引入的关键来源种群中存在的遗传多样性。三个经验遗传数据集（线粒体 DNA 序列、核 DNA 微卫星和 SNP 标记）包括从公共和私人机构采样的 500 多个个体，同时进行了模拟研究，以解决与重新引入管理相关的应用问题。结果有力地证明了保护遗传分析在确保创始人代表最大范围的进化多样性方面的重要性。包含集中管理和轻度管理的收藏品使我们能够弥合血统书和群体管理种群之间的差距，从而能够将缺乏其起源历史数据但可能具有重要保护价值的独特多样性的种群的个体纳入其中。然而，重要的是，