ESTIMATED INBREEDING IN A SMALL, WILD MUSKOX OVIBOS-MOSCHATUS POPULATION AND ITS POSSIBLE EFFECTS ON POPULATION REPRODUCTION

Knowledge of the effects of inbreeding in natural animal populations i s limited. Although inbreeding depression is well documented in wild a nimals bred in captivity, it has been suggested that the phenomenon do es not occur in nature. The potentially negative effects of inbreeding may be of great importance for the survival of small, wild population s. In a small free-living population of muskox Ovibos moschatus in Swe den, fecundity and longevity have decreased to the extent that the pop ulation now numbers only 12 individuals and is highly likely to die ou t in the near future. It is possible that this decline is due to harmf ul effects of inbreeding, the extent of which has been estimated using incomplete pedigree data in combination with computer simulations. Co pyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Limited