Microsatellite loci for the buff-throated partridge (Tetraophasis szechenyii), an endemic pheasant species of China, are here described for the first time. Twenty-five microsatellite markers from chicken and Japanese quail were tested on buff-throated partridge DNA by means of cross-amplification. Twenty (80%) primers yielded specific products and polymorphisms were tested in a wild population of buff-throated partridge. Twelve (48%) proved to be polymorphic with an average of two alleles per locus. Current results of buff-throated partridge microsatellites loci could be employed in population genetic studies and on other endangered pheasant species.