Genetic diversity of the European bison herd from the Prioksko-Terrasny nature reserve

Maintaining the existing genetic diversity in populations is one of the most important measures for species conservation. Some components of this diversity in the bison population of the Prioksko-Terrasny Nature Reserve, including the level of preservation of the founder genetic diversity or the founder genomic equivalent (fge) of the current bison stock and the indices of similarity (mk) and genome uniqueness (gu), as well as their effects on viability of the animals from 1950-1995 were studied. The data obtained were treated and the diversity parameters were calculated with the use of the SPARKS software package. This was performed in collaboration with the Institute for Zoo Biology and Wildlife Research (Berlin, Germany). The results of the analysis indicated that, in breeding groups of the European bison, the fge, mk, and gu values should be maintained at levels higher than 1.30, lower than 40%, and higher than 10%, respectively. When selecting males for specific groups of females, the male gu should be at least 20%, and mk should be lower than 40%.