Hi Andrew,
It's not so much a problem for a lot of other species as they have quite a
range of genetic diversity within their populations, so you can get to a fairly
small number of individuals and not end up with them being called Cleetus and
playing banjoes (what is the plural of banjo?). However, if a species has been
reduced to a very small number a few times previously, it tends to wipe out
that diversity - we can see that in humans and domestic cats, both of which
were probably reduced to around a couple of thousand at a few points in
history. Even then, with a limited genetic stock (it's often been said that one
troop of chimpanzees has more diversity within it than the entire human race),
it would take only 32 individuals (and very careful management of who was
breeding with who for a few generations) to ensure that serious genetic
problems don't occur.
However, I don't know the background of the species you mention, so I couldn't
help on that...
Cheers,
Tony
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