EN
A total of 228 red deer Ceruus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758 from 5 sampling sites in Germany and 2 sampling sites in Switzerland were analysed for allozyme variability by means of various electrophoretic techniques. Based on 26 presumptive structural loci scored, the proportion of polymorphic loci (P) ranged from 3.8% to 11.5%, and average heterozygosity (H) varied between 0.8% and 2%. These values are among the lowest ones as yet detected in population genetic studies of red deer. A correlation between genetic and geographic distances could be demonstrated and significant allele frequency differences were observed, especially between the German and the Swiss populations examined. Levels of relative genetic differentiation (Gst) among populations in Germany and Switzerland were low and amounted to 3.9% and 1.5%, respectively. When compared with all other German samples, a private allele at the Mpi-1 locus and remarkably different allelic frequencies at the Sod-2 locus were detected in the game preserve Reinhardswald. These findings were interpreted to result from a release of Hungarian and Hungarian x Yugoslavian red deer in the 1980s.