Genetic variation of Elephas maximus sumatranus from Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, Indonesia

Abstract

Elephas maximus sumatranus is a subspecies of asian elephant occurred on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Listed as critically endangered species and separate evolutionary significant unit, making them a high priority population for conservation. Habitat loss, fragmentation, and Human Elephant Conflict (HEC) are causal factors underlying the decline of elephant population in Sumatra. Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP) is one of national park where located in Lampung Province and had resident population of Sumatra’s elephant. The genetic information especially genetic variation should be known from this population to create better conservation management. We collected 52 faecal samples from three locations at BBSNP (Way Nipah, Sukaraja Atas, and Pemerihan). Then, extracting DNA from dung, PCR amplifying and sequencing with average product of 576bp D-Loop mitochondrial DNA. Two haplotypes, BT and BS, were identified from three locations at BBSNP. From this study we suggest that the genetic variation from three locations at BBSNP was low.