The genetic diversity of the populations for 14 wild green peafowls (Pavo muticus) and 18 captive green pea-fowls was investigated by using the technology of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD). Totally 161 and 166 ampli-fied bands were obtained by using 23 arbitrary primers to amplify the genomic DNA of wild and captive green peafowls re-spectively. The results showed that the average relative genetic distance of the wild and captive green peafowls popula-tions was 0.0555 and 0.1355, respectively, and difference of the average relative genetic distances between the two popu-lations was 0.1635. The Shannon diversity index for the wild and captive green peafowl populations was 0.4348 and 1.0163, respectively, which means that there exists significant difference in genetic diversity between the two populations, and the genetic diversity of wild green peafowl was low. The two populations originated from two different families according to analysis by the UPGMA method. This research can provide the theoretical basis for supervising genealogies management of peafowl populations.
