Abstract
The Chinkara (Gazella bennettii) population in Iran has been experiencing a serious decline in the last few decades. The current population is estimated at 2,818 individuals in 32 reserves and additionally at least 500 individuals outside protected areas. The number of Chinkaras ranges from 10 to more than 500 head per protected area. The main population with a total of more than 1500 individuals (or 45% of the entire Iranian population) is concentrated in three protected areas: Khabr National Park, Naibandan Wildlife Refuge, and Kavir National Park. The Department of Environment of Iran launched a captive breeding programme for the species in 1996 and now there are four captive breeding centres for Chinkara throughout the country. These face two major problems: first, all centres were established with only a few founders; second, each centre consists of one herd and only one dominant male can mate in each herd. Both of these problems apparently lead to low genetic diversity.
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