Analysis of mtDNA control region of an isolated population of Eld’s deer (<i>Rucervus eldii</i>) reveals its vulnerability to inbreeding

<p>The Eld’s deer or brow-antlered deer (<i>Rucervus eldii</i>) is one of the most endangered cervids of Southeast Asia. Geographically, it has three distinct subspecies; Sangai or Manipur's brow-antlered deer (<i>R. e. eldii</i>), Siamese brow-antlered deer (<i>R. e. siamensis</i>) and Thamin or Myanmar’s brow antlered deer (<i>R. e. thamin</i>). We examined the genetic diversity of wild and captive populations of <i>R. e. eldii</i> and compared its relationship with other subspecies using mtDNA control region gene. During the analysis, only one haplotype was detected in 30 samples of <i>R. e. eldii.</i> No genetic variation was observed among the <i>R. e. eldii</i> populations. The reduced genetic diversity indicates that the population has passed through the bottleneck effect that might have resulted in the inbreeding depression.</p