Population genetics of the springbok Antidorcas marsupialis - a preliminary study

Biochemical-genetic variation was studied in springbok Antidorcas m. marsupialis (Zimmermann, 1780) from a large (N > 2000) "wild" population (n = 24) and a small (30 > N > 20) isolated farm population (n = 10) using electrophoretic allozyme analysis. Springbok showed polymorphisms at eight out of 46 loci. The springbok from the large population had a higher proportion of polymorphic loci (P = 15.6%) than those from the small population (P = 8.9%). Average heterozygosity (H = 5.1% and H = 4.1%, respectively) was similar for the two populations. This unexpected result is an artefact of the method for calculating H. H:P ratios are lower for the large population than the small one. The distribution of genotypes differed significantly from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium for two loci. These were found to have a preponderance of homozygotes. This could not be explained by population fragmentation. The levels of polymorphism and heterozygosity are high compared to results from other African bovids.