With its slim body and beautifully curved horns, the Arabian sand gazelle is nothing if not an elegant creature.But for all its majesty, it is actually one of the animals classed as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.Although the goitered or black-tailed gazelle, of which it is a subspecies, can be found more widely the Arabian sand gazelle exists only on the Arabian Peninsula in, among other places, the sandy deserts in the south-east of Abu Dhabi emirate.

The long-term future of this animal has been the subject of concern for decades and until 2008 its numbers were in decline, but conservation efforts have led to a growth in the population.Locally there are now said to be about 50,000 and, if current growth rates were to continue, the tally could increase by tens of thousands in the years to come.

However, the conservation ?fforts have brought a new ?roblem.Many of these creatures are not wild but are kept in managed ?reas and this, alongside rapid growth in numbers from a smaller population base, creates a risk of inbreeding. There is even a chance that full or half siblings could mate with one another.Inbreeding often leads to the emergence of harmful recessive traits that, in more ?enetically diverse animals, tend to be masked by dominant forms of genes.Scientists have described the phenomenon of "inbreeding ?epression", which can reduce the fitness of individuals and can lower fertility rates, potentially threatening the long-term ?urvival of populations.

To help prevent such problems, the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi carried out a comprehensive genetic study of the Arabian sand gazelle in the emirate.The project began in 2014. At 21 locations in Abu Dhabi where the Arabian sand gazelle is found, blood samples were taken from 20 animals.These individuals were also assessed for their morphological traits or physical characteristics, such as the length of the body and of the horns.The colour of the coat was among the variables ?ecorded, and pictures of each of the animals being studied were taken.The Ead?s laboratories extracted DNA from the blood samples. Not all of the samples allowed for a suitable DNA extraction, so the total number of DNA samples generated was 380. These were sent for analysis to Floragenex, a laboratory in Oregon in the US.

This allowed for the identification of genetic markers – ?ariations in the sequence of an organism?s DNA that can correlate with differences in the characteristics of individuals.By identifying genetic markers, researchers can highlight which sand gazelles have particular types of genetic variation that could be transferred to other populations in Abu Dhabi.

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