Open AccessThe Last-Surviving Moroccan Dorcas Gazelle (Gazella dorcas massaesyla) Viability Analysis [M’Sabih Talaa Reserve, Morocco]
Author(s) -
Ait Baamrane Moulay Abdeljalil,
Mohammed Znari,
el Said,
Siham Bellout,
Mohamed Naïmi
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of zoological investigations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2454-3055
DOI - 10.33745/ijzi.2021.v07i01.017
Subject(s) - poaching , population , geography , fecundity , ecology , biology , demography , sociology
The single remnant Moroccan dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas massaesyla) has been isolated for more thanfive decades in the M’Sabih Talaa reserve, an arid area of west-central Morocco. This population has been subject todifferent disturbances, especially poaching and depredation by feral dogs. A five-season line transect surveyrevealed that the population size has been halved in less than 15 years with a lower apparent fecundity rate. In thepresent work, we carried out a population viability analysis simulating different scenarios using VORTEX softwarebased on available demographic and life-history data from captive populations,. A sensitivity analysis revealed thatinbreeding depression and possible catastrophic events could have a considerable impact on the population’sprospects. Scenarios of splitting population into two subpopulations with different management measuresreducing/deleting mortality sources, is proposed. Such scenarios resulted in reducing the consequences ofcatastrophic events would significantly mitigate the harmful effects of both inbreeding and environmentalstochasticity. These results may be of a general interest to conservationists dealing with this unique and imperiledpopulation.