Ranchers who move animals from region to region may be threatening the genetic diversity of wildlife
As game ranching in Kenya expands and the increase in human populations forces wildlife into isolated islands, the National Museum of Kenya and the Kenya Wildlife Service have embarked on a wildlife genetics programme to preserve the genetic diversity of the country's wild animals.
The programme began when scientists at both organisations realised that the genetic diversity of the country's wildlife was threatened by new management policies that regard animals as an economic resource, and by social pressures that regard them as pests.
Game ranchers are now allowed to raise, kill and sell the meat of species such as zebra, giraffe and gazelle that are not endangered, while human populations increasingly demand that wild animals should be corralled into fenced national parks, to protect their crops and their domestic livestock.
Since both developments will force wildlife managers to increase their manipulation of animal resources, they need crucial genetic information if long-term conservation is to be successful, according to molecular biologist Rashid Aman, the director of the National Museums wildlife genetics department.
In the case of game ranching, animals may be moved about from ranch to ranch to increase or diminish supplies. Wildlife managers need to know if animals from two different regions of the country are separate subspecies, and to decide if they want to maintain these subspecies or mix them. Genetic susceptibility and resistance to disease are particularly important.
As more wild animals are kept captive inside wildlife parks "we stand to lose our genetic diversity", says Jim Else, deputy director of scientific services at the Kenya Wildlife Service. Managers will need to know the genetic diversity of a population to decide whether it is necessary to increase the gene pool by cross-breeding.
So far, the programme is small and has proved controversial. Tissue samples of elephants, wild dogs, cheetahs and several bovid species have been collected, but safari operators have complained about the wildlife service's dart guns used to immobilise the animals.
One elephant expert, Cynthia Moss, said that the noise of the guns had frightened elephants in Amboseli National Park so much that she had not been able to get close to them for days.
The scale of the task is also daunting, with limited funding and only two scientists working on the project. Dr Aman is undaunted. His long-term goals include applying reproductive technologies such as embryo transfer and preservation of cells in a genetic bank as an insurance against possible catastrophes.
He also wants to set up regional programmes with other countries including South Africa, the only other African country with a developed wildlife genetics programme.
