Understanding geographic origins and history of admixture among chimpanzees in European zoos, with implications for future breeding programmes

Despite ample focus on this endangered species, conservation planning for chimpanzees residing outside Africa has proven a challenge because of the lack of ancestry information. Here, we analysed the largest number of chimpanzee samples to date, examining microsatellites in >100 chimpanzees from the range of the species in Africa, and 20% of the European zoo population. We applied the knowledge about subspecies differentiation throughout equatorial Africa to assign origin to chimpanzees in the largest conservation management programme globally. A total of 63% of the genotyped chimpanzees from the European zoos could be assigned to one of the recognized subspecies. The majority being of West African origin (40%) will help consolidate the current breeding programme for this subspecies and the identification of individuals belonging to the two other subspecies so far found in European zoos can form the basis for breeding programmes for these. Individuals of various degree of mixed ancestry made up 37% of the genotyped European zoo population and thus highlight the need for appropriate management programmes guided by genetic analysis to preserve maximum genetic diversity and reduce hybridization among subspecies.

尽管学界对这一濒危黑猩猩物种已有充分关注，但由于缺乏祖先谱系信息，针对非洲以外栖息的黑猩猩开展保护规划仍面临显著挑战。本研究分析了迄今为止规模最大的黑猩猩样本队列：对分布于非洲全分布区的100余只野生黑猩猩，以及欧洲动物园种群中20%的个体开展了微卫星（microsatellites）分型分析。我们依托赤道非洲地区黑猩猩亚种分化的研究基础，为全球规模最大的黑猩猩保护管理项目提供了个体溯源的分析方法。经基因分型的欧洲动物园黑猩猩个体中，共有63%可被归类至已被公认的黑猩猩亚种之一。其中占比最高的西非来源个体（40%）将有助于巩固该亚种当前的繁育计划；而针对欧洲动物园中目前已发现的另外两个亚种个体的识别工作，则可为对应亚种的繁育项目提供核心依据。具有不同程度混血血统的个体占经基因分型欧洲动物园种群的37%，这一结果凸显了依托遗传分析制定科学管理方案的必要性，以最大限度保留种群遗传多样性，并降低亚种间的杂交风险。