Table 1.
Occasions where inbreeding was possible versus observed in the field within natal packs, after reproductive vacancies, and among siblings in the KZN African wild dog population (adults and yearlings) from 1997 through 2008.
Figure 1.
Relatedness comparisons with kinship levels.
Mean pairwise relatedness (r) for different relationships in the KZN wild dog population with numbers of dyads examined for each category indicated.
Table 2.
Sensitivity analyses for selected model input variables with a ±25% variation range in values for a simulated African wild dog population.
Figure 2.
Projections with and without avoidance.
Mean projected population size (a) and mean inbreeding coefficients (b) of simulated African wild dog populations over 100 years without inbreeding avoidance behaviours, with prevention of parent-offspring and full-sibling matings (F = 0.20), with prevention of half-sibling matings and higher (F = 0.123), and with prevention of aunt-nephew/uncle-niece matings and higher (F = 0.063). Dotted horizontal lines in (b) indicate inbreeding thresholds. The erratic behavior of mean inbreeding coefficients just before extinction is the result of very small population sizes that lead to unusual mean values near F = 1.0.
Figure 3.
Population composition with avoidance.
Average number of adult male, adult female and juvenile wild dogs in simulated populations maintaining an inbreeding threshold of F = 0.20.
Table 3.
Average percent gene diversity lost annually before inbreeding thresholds were reached and population growth rates after thresholds began influencing mate availability in simulated African wild dog populations experiencing a range of levels of inbreeding avoidance.
Figure 4.
Carrying capacity determines persistence.
Average projected size of simulated wild dog populations over 100 years with the carrying capacity parameter set at varying levels in relation to initial population size. Model assumes an inbreeding avoidance threshold of F = 0.20.