Date of Award

1999

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Natural Resources Science

Department

Natural Resources Science

First Advisor

Thomas Husband

Abstract

The Cretan wild goat (Capra aegagrus cretensis Lydekker) or agrimi is the last existing sub-species of free ranging bezoar goat (C. a. aegagrus) in Europe. Today, the agrimi's existence is threatened by hybridization with domestic goats. Today, the agrimi's existence is threatened by hybridization with domestic goats. Protection of this animal is very important to the people of Greece and Crete due to the agrimi' s historic cultural importance. To examine genetic variation within and among wild and domestic goats (C. hircus), 6 polymorphic microsatellite loci were used to compare the genetic structure of 5 populations (3 populations of agrimi on Crete, a domestic goat herd on Crete, and a domestic sample from Rhode Island, USA). The agrimi populations were sampled from 2 small offshore islands and the Samaria Gorge National Park (founder population of the island populations). Significant Differences in allele frequencies were detected among the 5 goat populations. Genetic distances were greatest between the two island populations and lower among the Samaria Gorge and domestic populations. The distances mirrored the allelic diversities with Samaria Gorge and domestic populations sharing many alleles at moderate frequencies and island populations containing fewer alleles at high frequencies. Apparently high genetic diversity has been maintained in the domestic and Samaria Gorge populations while the Agii Pantes and Theodorou populations have become genetically depauperate and genetically distinct due to loss of different alleles within each population. If the goal of management is to increase the heterozygosity of island population, breeding programs that introduce genes from the Samaria Gorge population must be implemented.

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