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The Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana) is patchily distributed across parts of Africa and Arabia. In Oman, it is one of the few free-ranging wild mammals found in the central and southern regions. Its population is declining due to habitat degradation, human expansion, poaching and fragmentation. Here, we investigated the population's genetic diversity using mitochondrial DNA (D-loop 186 bp and cytochrome b 487 bp). We found that the Nubian ibex in the southern region of Oman was more diverse (D-loop HD; 0.838) compared to the central region (0.511) and gene flow between them was restricted. We compared the genetic profiles of wild Nubian ibex from Oman with captive ibex. A Bayesian phylogenetic tree showed that wild Nubian ibex form a distinct clade independent from captive animals. This divergence was supported by high mean distances (D-loop 0.126, cytochrome b 0.0528) and high FST statistics (D-loop 0.725, cytochrome b 0.968). These results indicate that captive ibex are highly unlikely to have originated from the wild population in Oman and the considerable divergence suggests that the wild population in Oman should be treated as a distinct taxonomic unit. Further nuclear genetic work will be required to fully elucidate the degree of global taxonomic divergence of Nubian ibex populations.

The Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana) is patchily distributed across parts of Africa and Arabia. In Oman, it is one of the few free-ranging wild mammals found in the central and southern regions. Its population is declining due to habitat degradation, human expansion, poaching and fragmentation. Here, we investigated the population's genetic diversity using mitochondrial DNA (D-loop 186 bp and cytochrome b 487 bp). We found that the Nubian ibex in the southern region of Oman was more diverse (D-loop HD; 0.838) compared to the central region (0.511) and gene flow between them was restricted. We compared the genetic profiles of wild Nubian ibex from Oman with captive ibex. A Bayesian phylogenetic tree showed that wild Nubian ibex form a distinct clade independent from captive animals. This divergence was supported by high mean distances (D-loop 0.126, cytochrome b 0.0528) and high FST statistics (D-loop 0.725, cytochrome b 0.968). These results indicate that captive ibex are highly unlikely to have originated from the wild population in Oman and the considerable divergence suggests that the wild population in Oman should be treated as a distinct taxonomic unit. Further nuclear genetic work will be required to fully elucidate the degree of global taxonomic divergence of Nubian ibex populations.

The Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana) is patchily distributed across parts of Africa and Arabia. In Oman, it is one of the few free-ranging wild mammals found in the central and southern regions. Its population is declining due to habitat degradation, human expansion, poaching and fragmentation. Here, we investigated the population's genetic diversity using mitochondrial DNA (D-loop 186 bp and cytochrome b 487 bp). We found that the Nubian ibex in the southern region of Oman was more diverse (D-loop HD; 0.838) compared to the central region (0.511) and gene flow between them was restricted. We compared the genetic profiles of wild Nubian ibex from Oman with captive ibex. A Bayesian phylogenetic tree showed that wild Nubian ibex form a distinct clade independent from captive animals. This divergence was supported by high mean distances (D-loop 0.126, cytochrome b 0.0528) and high FST statistics (D-loop 0.725, cytochrome b 0.968). These results indicate that captive ibex are highly unlikely to have originated from the wild population in Oman and the considerable divergence suggests that the wild population in Oman should be treated as a distinct taxonomic unit. Further nuclear genetic work will be required to fully elucidate the degree of global taxonomic divergence of Nubian ibex populations.

The Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana) is patchily distributed across parts of Africa and Arabia. In Oman, it is one of the few free-ranging wild mammals found in the central and southern regions. Its population is declining due to habitat degradation, human expansion, poaching and fragmentation. Here, we investigated the population's genetic diversity using mitochondrial DNA (D-loop 186 bp and cytochrome b 487 bp). We found that the Nubian ibex in the southern region of Oman was more diverse (D-loop HD; 0.838) compared to the central region (0.511) and gene flow between them was restricted. We compared the genetic profiles of wild Nubian ibex from Oman with captive ibex. A Bayesian phylogenetic tree showed that wild Nubian ibex form a distinct clade independent from captive animals. This divergence was supported by high mean distances (D-loop 0.126, cytochrome b 0.0528) and high FST statistics (D-loop 0.725, cytochrome b 0.968). These results indicate that captive ibex are highly unlikely to have originated from the wild population in Oman and the considerable divergence suggests that the wild population in Oman should be treated as a distinct taxonomic unit. Further nuclear genetic work will be required to fully elucidate the degree of global taxonomic divergence of Nubian ibex populations.

A thorough understanding of how camera traps function is essential for ensuring correct set-up and quality of data. We illustrate the challenges through a case study of camera trapping an otter Lutra lutra resting and breeding place. Appropriate survey design, such as using multiple cameras, decreasing the distance between cameraand otter holt entrance, and camera trapping for sufficient duration, is likely to reduce the propensity for false negatives and increase our ability to correctly identify and protect mammal resting places.

Invasive species are a major threat for island biodiversity, causing species decline and extinction globally. Of all invasive mammals rats are one of the most detrimental and have been the target of numerous control and eradication programmes. In Mauritius rats have contributed to the extinction of 50% of the island's fauna and are thought to be the main threat to the endemic Mauritius olive white-eye (Zosterops chloronothos), a critically endangered passerine. Assessing the impact of rats and suitable control strategies is often problematic in such cases because of the lack of replicate populations for experiments. Here, we illustrate how to overcome this issue by combining a small-scale rat management experiment on olive white-eyes with demographic models that provide estimates of the potential effects of management on vital rates and population growth. We established poison and trapping grids within breeding territories, and show that rat management significantly decreased rat abundance and increased nesting success. An individual-based stochastic simulation model suggested that rat control could produce a 5–6 fold increase in the annual productivity of female olive white-eyes, which in turn would be sufficient to stabilise population growth. In the absence of rat management, our analysis suggests the olive white-eye population will decline by about 14% per annum. By combining low cost field experiments with widely available demographic models we highlight the value of targeted, effective rat management techniques for both short and long-term population management in threatened passerines.

Capsule Long-term conservation of Black Grouse in Scotland may rely upon the retention of sufficiently large and well-connected patches of moorland and a diversity of adjacent forest types.Aims To study Black Grouse habitat use within a moorland-forest mosaic and make recommendations for their conservation in more heavily forested future landscapes.Methods We carried out radio-telemetry on Black Grouse over three years to investigate individual habitat use. We used compositional analyses to investigate habitat selection in different seasons. We examined whether this matched previous population-level patterns and whether it differed between males and females. We used logistic regression to examine whether movements into large-scale commercial forests were restricted to the periphery relative to random locations.Results Males used seasonal ranges of >200 ha and females >70 ha. Birds selected strongly for moorland throughout the year, matching other population-level studies. Underlying this, however, males and females differed in their use of forests, with males associated with broadleaf woodland, while females preferred new native pinewoods in spring–summer or commercial conifer forests in autumn–winter. Use of commercial plantation forests was generally limited to their periphery, particularly to within