Desiré Lee Dalton

Bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus pygargus) and blesbok (D. p. phillipsi) have been classified as separated sub-species (van der Walt et al., 2013; van Wyk et al., 2013). The blesbok have a widespread distribution in South Africa (Skinner & Smithers, 1990) with an estimated population size of 235,000–240,000 (East, 1999). Bontebok are endemic to the Cape Floristic Region of the Western Cape in South Africa (Radloff et al., 2017; Figure 1).

(i.5) Marsupials (infraorder Marsupialia) Few studies have been conducted on telomere dynamics in marsupials. One study, in Tasmanian devils, focussed on telomere length as a predictive risk factor for facial tumours and found longer telomeres to have a protective role that delays the age of onset for facial tumours in different populations (Smith et al., 2020).