Snow leopards are the world’s least genetically diverse big cat, Pg2

Key Highlights:

• A new study reveals that the snow leopard has the lowest genetic diversity among big cat species [i].
• The low genetic diversity is attributed to a consistently small population size throughout their evolutionary history [i].
• Despite low diversity, snow leopards have effectively purged harmful mutations, maintaining relative health [i].
• India is home to 10-15% of the global snow leopard population, with an estimated 718 individuals [i].

Detailed Insights:

• The study, utilizing whole-genome sequencing of 37 snow leopards, found lower heterozygosity than even cheetahs [i].
• Snow leopards' high inbreeding coefficient suggests that low genetic diversity isn't due to recent inbreeding [i].
• Low genetic diversity and small population sizes may hinder the snow leopard's ability to adapt to future challenges [i].
• Threats to snow leopards include climate change, habitat loss, prey scarcity, retaliatory killings, and poaching [i].
• Despite threats, snow leopards were controversially downlisted to 'vulnerable' in 2017 due to population size criteria [i].
• India's Project Snow Leopard and NGOs are working with local communities for snow leopard conservation [i].
• Land use change and climate change pose significant threats to snow leopard habitats in India [i].
• Large-scale infrastructure projects near international borders are impacting snow leopard habitats [i].
• Maintaining the integrity of the snow leopard's habitat is crucial for the species' long-term conservation [i].

Key Concepts Involved:

• Heterozygosity: The measure of genetic variation within a population, reflecting the diversity of alleles at a locus.
• Inbreeding Coefficient: A measure of the probability that two alleles at any locus in an individual are identical by descent from a common ancestor.
• Anthropogenic Challenges: Environmental changes and threats caused or influenced by human activities.