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The illegal exploitation of hog badgers (Arctonyx collaris) in China: genetic evidence exposes regional population impacts

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Abstract

Although the impacts of the legal and illegal wildlife trade are broadly recognised for flagship species (e.g., elephant, rhino and tiger), less is known about how exploitation affects more common, and less charismatic species. This is of especial concern in Asia in general, and particularly in China, where demands for wild game species, and derived products are increasing, but a lack of data on illegal bushmeat hunting limits the development of effective species and ecosystem conservation measures. Genetic monitoring provides an informative tool to assess the pressures on regional populations, particularly for species that are difficult to monitor, for example, using arboreal or subterranean refugia. Here, using microsatellite markers, we investigated the effect of hunting on the genetic diversity of a regional population of the hog badger. Samples were collected from hog badgers confiscated from illegal traffickers and local hunters by forest authorities in the market towns of Wufeng and Yuguan, which lie 40 km apart in Hubei Province, China. To isolate novel hog badger microsatellite loci, we constructed a biotin-enriched microsatellite DNA library. Furthermore, we also tested the suitability of microsatellite loci designed for the European badger in the hog badger. Using these microsatellite markers, we found that these seized hog badgers exhibited a high level of genetic diversity—mean alleles per locus (A) were 8.33 and mean expected heterozygosities (H E) were 0.77. Despite 40 km separation between sample sites, spatial segregation was not apparent from genetics. This suggests that our confiscated hog badgers belong to the same meta-population. Although limited by a lack of geographical data on the source of these hog badgers, preventing the analysis of isolation by distance effects, hunting likely eroded hog badger population social structure, promoting gene flow among demes. We conclude that the exploitation of this wild source population seems unsustainable.

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Acknowledgments

We thank M. Li, B. S. Wang, J. Chen, S. Yuan, G. J. Liu, F. L. Shi, G. H. Jiang and X. Q. Zhu for their assistance during this research. We are grateful to the State Forestry Administration, China, and the Wildlife Conservation Station, Wufeng County Forestry Bureau in Hubei Province, for granting us permission to conduct this study. This work was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid Scientific Research (Nos. 22405003 and 26257404) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Special Fund for Public Service sponsored by National Environmental Protection Ministry of China (201309039). DWM gratefully acknowledges the support of the Recanati-Kaplan Foundation and the Peoples’ Trust for Endangered Species.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bei**g, 100093, China

    Wenwen Chen, Zongqiang **e & Youbing Zhou

  2. Department of Biology, Nan**g University, Nan**g, 210093, China

    Wenwen Chen

  3. Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, The Recanati-Kaplan Centre, University of Oxford, Tubney House, Tubney, Abingdon, OX13 5QL, UK

    Chris Newman, Christina D. Buesching, David W. Macdonald & Youbing Zhou

  4. Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bei**g, 100093, China

    Zhi** Liu

  5. Carnivore Ecology and Conservation Research Group, Division of Ecosciences, Institute of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo, 183-8509, Japan

    Yayoi Kaneko

  6. Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan

    Keita Omote & Ryuichi Masuda

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  1. Wenwen Chen
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  2. Chris Newman
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  9. Zongqiang **e
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  10. Youbing Zhou
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Correspondence to Youbing Zhou.

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Chen, W., Newman, C., Liu, Z. et al. The illegal exploitation of hog badgers (Arctonyx collaris) in China: genetic evidence exposes regional population impacts. Conservation Genet Resour 7, 697–704 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-015-0467-x

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