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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jurek" data-source="post: 3904129" data-attributes="member: 3357">Not really. Often there is no obvious reason. Maybe the relatively low dispersal of badgers forces them to mate in the pool of distant relatives. And their solitary nature and low density (outside Britain, Badgers are loners) mean that badgers can have uniform immunological system and be safe from epidemies. In case of Cheetahs, it was suggested that low genetic diversity comes from near-extinction several 10,000 years ago. However I never saw a reasonable follow-up whether there is another proof of this supposed near-extinction and why it should happen just for Cheetahs.In any case, there are many known examples of mammal populations with low genetic diversity which are very healthy. Presumably, many genetically uniform populations by luck 'purge' genetic disorders so stay healthy.</blockquote>