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Sidney Island European Fallow Deer Were Genetically Isolated From Nearby Islands

European fallow deer herd, including an antlered male, in Richmond Park, London
Research · Genetics & genomics

A population-genomic study of invasive European fallow deer (Dama dama) on Sidney Island in British Columbia, Canada, found that the population was genetically isolated from deer on nearby James and Mayne islands. The two neighbouring islands had been considered potential sources of natural reinvasion if fallow deer were eradicated from Sidney.

The researchers genotyped 44 deer from the three islands at 8,528 genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), positions in the DNA where individuals can differ by a single genetic base. The populations showed strong pairwise genetic differentiation, and the analyses found no evidence of gene flow among the islands.

The contemporary Sidney Island population also had extremely low genetic diversity, meaning that individuals shared an unusually narrow set of genetic variants. The authors say this likely reflects a founder effect from the small number of animals that established the population, followed by genetic drift—the random loss of variants in a small population—during decades of population control.

Because the Sidney population was genetically isolated, the researchers conclude that a successful eradication is unlikely to be undermined by natural reinvasion from James or Mayne islands.

Sources and image credit

  1. Burgess, B. T., Miller, B., Janssen, M., & Russello, M. A. (2026). Population genomics of invasive fallow deer supports feasibility of island eradication and ecosystem restoration. Conservation Genetics, 27, 60.

Image: Emőke Dénes — European fallow deer herd in Richmond Park, London, United Kingdom, 6 April 2015. Representative species photograph, not the Canadian study population. Cropped to 16:9. Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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