Taxonomic and genetic assessment of captive White-Handed Gibbons (Hylobateslar) in Peninsular Malaysia with implications towards conservation translocation and reintroduction programmes

Millawati Gani; Jeffrine J Rovie-Ryan; Frankie Thomas Sitam; Noor Azleen Mohd Kulaimi; Chew Cheah Zheng; Aida Nur Atiqah; Nur Maisarah Abd Rahim; Ahmad Azhar Mohammed

doi:10.3897/zookeys.1076.73262

Taxonomic and genetic assessment of captive White-Handed Gibbons (Hylobateslar) in Peninsular Malaysia with implications towards conservation translocation and reintroduction programmes

Zookeys. 2021 Dec 8:1076:25-41. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1076.73262. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Millawati Gani¹, Jeffrine J Rovie-Ryan¹, Frankie Thomas Sitam¹, Noor Azleen Mohd Kulaimi¹, Chew Cheah Zheng^{1

2}, Aida Nur Atiqah^{1

2}, Nur Maisarah Abd Rahim^{1

3}, Ahmad Azhar Mohammed¹

Affiliations

¹ National Wildlife Forensic Laboratory, Ex-Situ Conservation Division, Department of Wildlife and National Parks, KM 10 Jalan Cheras, 56100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Department of Wildlife and National Parks Cheras Malaysia.
² Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM, Bangi Selangor, Malaysia Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Bangi Malaysia.
³ Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia Universiti Putra Malaysia Serdang Malaysia.

Abstract

Conservation translocation and reintroduction for the purpose of repopulating and reinforcing extirpated or depleted populations has been recognised as an important conservation tool, particularly for gibbon conservation in the immediate future. Feasibility assessments involving multiple factors, including taxonomic and genetic assessment of rescued and captive gibbons, are imperative prior to translocation and reintroduction programmes. In this study, we attempt to determine the subspecies and origin of captive Hylobateslar, White-handed gibbons, from Peninsular Malaysia to assist in future translocation and reintroduction programmes. A total of 12 captive and rescued H.lar samples were analysed using the control region segment of mitochondrial DNA. Sequence analyses and phylogenetic trees constructed using neighbour-joining, maximum likelihood, Bayesian inference, and network methods congruently differentiate all 12 captive individuals used in this study from other H.lar subspecies suggesting that these individuals belong to the H.larlar subspecies. In addition, two populations of H.l.lar were observed: (1) a southern population consisting of all 12 individuals from Peninsular Malaysia, and (2) a possible northern population represented by three individuals (from previous studies), which might have originated from the region between the Isthmus of Kra, Surat Thani-Krabi depression, and Kangar-Pattani. Our findings suggest that the complete control region segment can be used to determine the subspecies and origin of captive H.lar.

Keywords: Control region; mitochondrial DNA; northern and southern lar populations; phylogenetic relationships; subspecies determination.

Millawati Gani, Jeffrine J. Rovie-Ryan, Frankie Thomas Sitam, Noor Azleen Mohd Kulaimi, Chew Cheah Zheng, Aida Nur Atiqah, Nur Maisarah Abd Rahim, Ahmad Azhar Mohammed.