Abstract
Knowledge of the effects of inbreeding in natural animal populations is limited. Although inbreeding depression is well documented in wild animals bred in captivity, it has been suggested that the phenomenon does not occur in nature. The potentially negative effects of inbreeding may be of great importance for the survival of small, wild populations. In a small free-living population of muskox Ovibos moschatus in Sweden, fecundity and longevity have decreased to the extent that the population now numbers only 12 individuals and is highly likely to die out in the near future. It is possible that this decline is due to harmful effects of inbreeding, the extent of which has been estimated using incomplete pedigree data in combination with computer simulations.
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