Species identification based on the faecal DNA samples of the Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus)

Abstract

The Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus) is endemic to mountain regions in Japan. Due to the difficulty of directly observing Japanese serows, traces such as faeces have been utilized to study their distribution and estimate their population size. However, the recent population increase of sika deer (Cervus nippon) often leads misidentification of sika deer faecal pellets as those of Japanese serows. Therefore, we developed species identification methods to differentiate between the Japanese serow and sika deer based on mtDNA cytchrome b gene sequences, and applied the method to faecal samples collected for a survey program on the Japanese serow. In 67 field-collected faecal samples examined, we could amplify mtDNA at relatively high PCR succession rates (86.6%). Species identification based on PCR–RFLPs using the cytochrome b gene revealed that 41.4% of faecal pellets of sika deer were misidentified as being from Japanese serow. This suggests that the present population size of the Japanese serow may be overestimated. This species identification method eliminates such misidentifications and should become a powerful tool for studying Japanese serow, including their distribution, precise population size, and estimations of density.