No inbreeding depression observed in Mexican and red wolf captive breedingprograms

Inbreeding depression is expected to affect populations of outbreeding mamm als in inverse proportion to their population size and can affect whether s mall populations persist or go extinct. We used studbook records to examine the effect of inbreeding upon juvenile viability and litter size in two en dangered species that have recently been reintroduced to the wild: the Mexi can wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) and the red wolf (C. rufus). We found that n either juvenile viability nor litter size was lowered by inbreeding in eith er taxon. In fact, both captive breeding programs appear to have less letha l equivalents than the median estimate for mammals. We did find that year o f birth was correlated with increasing viability in both taxa. We conclude that there is no evidence that inbreeding depression will prove a major obs tacle to the success of either recovery effort.