Data from: Evaluation of microsatellite markers for populations studies and forensic identification of African lions (Panthera leo)

The South African lion (Panthera leo) population is highly fragmented. One-third of its wild lions occur in small (<1000 km2) reserves. These lions were reintroduced from other areas of the species' historical range. Management practices on these reserves have not prioritized genetic provenance or heterozygosity. These trends potentially constrain the conservation value of these lions. To ensure the best management and long-term survival of these subpopulations as a viable collective population, the provenance and current genetic diversity must be described. Concurrently, poaching of lions to supply a growing market for lion bones in Asia may become a serious conservation challenge in the future. Having a standardized, validated method for matching confiscated lion parts with carcasses will be a key tool in investigating these crimes. We evaluated 28 microsatellites in the African lion using samples from 18 small reserves and 1 captive facility in South Africa, two conservancies in Zimbabwe, and Kruger National and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Parks to determine the loci most suited for population management and forensic genetic applications. Twelve microsatellite loci with a match probability of 1.1×10−5 between siblings were identified for forensics. A further 10 could be added for population genetics studies.南非狮（Panthera leo）种群呈现高度碎片化特征。其野生种群中约三分之一栖息于面积小于1000平方千米的小型保护区内，该区域内的狮子均从该物种历史分布范围的其他区域重新引入。相关保护区的管理实践未优先考量遗传来源（genetic provenance）与杂合度（heterozygosity），此类情况或会限制该种群的保护价值。为实现对这些亚种群的最优管理，并使其作为具备生存能力的整体种群实现长期存续，需明确其遗传来源与当前遗传多样性状况。与此同时，为满足亚洲日益增长的狮骨市场需求而开展的狮子偷猎行为，未来或成为严峻的保护挑战。建立标准化且经过验证的方法，将查获的狮类制品与对应个体进行匹配，将成为此类案件调查的关键工具。本研究针对非洲狮的28个微卫星（microsatellites）标记展开分析，所用样本取自南非18个小型保护区、1个圈养设施，津巴布韦的2个自然保护地，以及克鲁格国家公园与卡拉哈里跨境公园，旨在筛选出最适用于种群管理与法医遗传学（forensic genetics）应用的基因座。最终筛选出12个微卫星基因座，其同胞个体间的匹配概率为1.1×10⁻⁵，可用于法医鉴定；此外还可额外选取10个基因座，用于种群遗传学研究。