Genetic variation in the feral horses of the Namib Desert, Namibia

Genetic variation at 7 blood-group and 10 biochemical genetic loci was exam ined in 30 horses from a feral herd from the Namib Desert of Namibia, Afric a. The observed genetic variability was extremely low compared with that fo und in domestic horse breeds. The low variation was most probably a result of recent small population size and a small founding population size. Genet ic comparison of the Namib horses, which were of unknown origins, to domest ic horse breeds, showed that the Namib horses had the highest genetic simil arity to Arabian tyro horses, although they did not closely resemble this t ype of horse in conformation.