DIVERSITY
What’s behind the genetic threat to the rhino?
‘This is quite a staggering loss for any species to endure’, says Sarah Wild
Poaching is doing more damage than reducing the world’s black rhino population; it is eroding the genetic diversity of the iconic animal. Recent research published in the prestigious journal Scientific Reports has found that the black rhinoceros has lost about 70% of its genetic diversity in the past 200 years. "This is quite a staggering loss for any species to endure," says Prof Yoshan Moodley, lead author on the paper and head of the molecular ecology group at the University of Venda’s zoology department. Species often go extinct when their genetic diversity is low, because they are less resilient to change or threats. With high diversity, some members of the population may survive when hit by a change in environment or a disease. Black rhino are scarcer than their white counterparts, with five remaining populations in SA, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Namibia and Tanzania. But 200 years ago, they were spread across sub-Saharan Africa. "The loss of diversity, usually blamed entirely on the ra...
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