SEXING FREE-RANGING BROWN BEARS URSUS-ARCTOS USING HAIRS FOUND IN THEFIELD

As an aid to the management of the Pyrenean population of the brown be ar Ursus arctos, a sexing method based on the amplification of a Y chr omosome specific sequence has been developed, and tested using hairs f ound in the field as a source of DNA. This method involves a two-step polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which allows the detection of a very s mall amount of DNA, probably a single SRY gene molecule. The sex can r eliably be identified using about 50pg of DNA extract as template. It is possible that this approach could, with adjustments, be used to ide ntify the sex of other species of eutherian mammals.