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I have just spent a few days in Fiji and was
appalled at the number of mynas (both common and jungle) that were
there. This has raised a question in my mind which is possibly of
relevance to Canberra.
My understanding was that if there is a lot of
inbreeding due to a small population size there was a high probability of lethal
genes becoming evident and thus the population self terminating. Therefore
we need to conserve a lot of examples of each species. I thus have two questions. (1) How many mynas need to be
in an isolated population to keep it viable? (2) Do mynas need a lower
number of individuals than other species/genera .. orders to achieve this
effect?
I hope my poor understanding of genetics doesn't
obscure the basic question.
Also on the topic of Fiji. If anyone else is
going there I can, off-line, offer a good recommendation for hiring a car
in Nadi (and possibly Suva).
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