Genetic management has become a critical part of the overall management of nonhuman
primate populations. This dissertation describes a genetic analysis of the chacma baboon
population at the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve. The aim of this study was to apply
genetic data as a credible tool to contribute to the conservation and management of
chacma baboons at Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve. The specific objectives included
individual identification, determining genetic relationships and levels of gene flow
within- and among the fourteen troops, and to construct a genetic database with
individual genotypes of the whole population. A secondary objective of this study was to
determine whether it would be feasible to extract DNA from fecal samples collected from
a sleeping site and then use the genetic profiles to determine the number of individuals in
that specific troop. The current population is estimated to be between 611 and 764
animals. The sleeping site of the Diepkloof troop was used for this part of the study. A
panel of eleven human microsatellite markers was used for DNA analysis. DNA profiles
from all the blood samples were successfully constructed and could be used to estimate
genetic relationships. The level of genetic diversity in the Suikerbosrand baboon
population did not differ significantly from that in the outgroup. Thus, the reintroduction
of new individuals into the population to maintain acceptable levels of diversity is not an
immediate priority. High levels of gene flow were observed between the troops,
especially the troops located in the central part of the reserve. In order to ensure high
DNA quality from fecal samples collected at the sleeping site, the collection method for
fecal samples were optimized (A manuscript based on the work in this section has been
accepted for publication in the European Journal of Wildlife Research). The profiles
obtained from the fecal samples that were collected at the Diepkloof site corresponded
with two of the thirteen profiles from the reference database. The estimated size of the
Diepkloof troop is thirty seven individuals. The results show that non-invasive sampling
could be a promising alternative for future research on the reserve, as the samples can be
used to determine individual profiles. The genetic data collected can be combined with
ecological and behavioral information collected form future research to further understand the population structure of the Suikerbosrand chacma baboons and changes
that might occur in the population.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-10182011-122453 |
| Date | 18 October 2011 |
| Creators | Bubb, Annesca |
| Contributors | Prof JP Grobler, Prof A Kotze, Mrs K Ehlers |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-10182011-122453/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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