CONSERVATION IMPLICATIONS OF GENETIC DIFFERENTIATION IN SOUTHERN AFRICAN POPULATIONS OF BLACK RHINOCEROS (DICEROS-BICORNIS)

We analyzed 30 protein-coding loci of four southern African black rhin oceros populations in order to calculate fixation indices and genetic distances for the different populations. We concluded that one of thes e populations is of the subspecies Diceros bicornis bicornis and the o ther three of Diceros bicornis minor. No evidence of inbreeding within populations was found F- statistics revealed significant differentiat ion between populations. Small genetic distances found among the four populations reveal that they are conspecific, and no evidence was foun d to support the claim that the populations belong to discrete subspec ies. Rather, an east-west cline in genetic characteristics appears to exist with G6pd and HB-2 alleles peculiar to western populations and E s-2 and GP-3 alleles peculiar to eastern populations.