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Tigers dwindling: just six sub-species remain |
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by Sumit Chowdhury | 26-10-2018 15:18
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Six different sub-species of tigers exist today, scientists confirmed, amid hopes the findings will boost efforts to save the fewer than 4,000 free-range big cats that remain in the world. The six include the Bengal tiger, Amur tiger, South China tiger, Sumatran tiger, Indochinese tiger and Malayan tiger, said the report in the journal Current Biology. Three other tiger subspecies have already gone extinct: the Caspian, Javan and Bali tigers. Key threats to tigers' survival include habitat loss and poaching. How to best conserve the species and encourage both captive and wild breeding has been a matter of debate among scientists, in part because of divisions over how many tiger sub-species exist. Some say there are two types, and others believe there are five or six. The lack of consensus over the number of tiger subspecies has partially hindered the global effort to recover the species from the brink of extinction. Although tigers are believed to have roamed the Earth for the past two to three million years, the current population traces back to about 110,000 years ago. Researchers found very little evidence of breeding among different tiger populations. This low genetic diversity indicates that each subspecies has a unique evolutionary history. It also sets tigers apart from other big cats like jaguars, which more commonly intermix across entire continents. Tigers from Russia are evolutionarily distinct from those from India. Even tigers from Malaysia and Indonesia are different. Reversing the decline of tigers means "maximizing the efforts to preserve the genetic diversity, evolutionary uniqueness, and potential of the species Panthera tigris". Picture: Pixabay
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6 Comments
Sumit. It is indeed sad that the number of tigers in your country is decreasing. Something must be done about it.
Posted 12-11-2018 20:29
Hello Sumit, my country used to have a lot of tigers about 100 years ago but now we cannot see any individual tiger in my land today. Classifying and looking at pics of individual subspecies of tigers was very unique experience for me since I thought all the tigers did have same outlooks and appearance when I was young. Saving individual subspecies and conserving their habitat would mean securing the environment and biodiversity far from poaching and pollution. Drastic increase of prey species without tigers would also trigger further environmental problems in near future, so saving tigers is really important task for all of us in their territories :)
Thanks for your report!
Posted 30-10-2018 15:55
Hello Sumit
To protect and guarantee the ecological well being and survival for these endangered species, a deep understanding of their genetic and evolutionary information seems to be needed. With these facts in the ground, we would be able to approach this problem in a more scientifically analyzed and customized way!
Thanks for the report :)
Posted 30-10-2018 00:26
Yes!!! tiger has low genetic diversity.
Recently carried out census in Nepal has recorded pronounced increase in tiger population which is praiseworthy.
Posted 27-10-2018 00:51
Hi Sumit!
Tigers are unique creatures and I too agree that a rigid study should be conducted to identify their evolutionary pattern as to fully get to grasp with the decline of their population. There should be a coalition establishment between all spheres of animal conservation, all possible subspecies that can arises should be studied in detailed and protected thereof, that is the only way we can resuscitate the tiger species.
Thank you so much for reporting Sumit!
Posted 26-10-2018 20:40
Studies of Nepal's tigers have found a remarkable population increase of 19 percent over a four-year period. Scientists estimate there are now 235 wild bengal tigers in Nepal, a huge leap from 2009, when there were only about 120 of the endangered animals.
Posted 26-10-2018 17:56