Less than 4,000 tigers remain in the wild. New research gives conservationists a better understanding of their genetics in order to help save them.
Scientists report that tigers possess six unique subspecies. One of those subspecies, the South China tiger, survives only in captivity. “The results presented in this paper are important because they contradict the currently accepted international conservation classifications for tigers,” said Uma Ramakrishnan, a molecular ecologist at the National Center for Biological Sciences in Bangalore, India, who was not involved in the study.
With scientists classifying the world’s tigers into two subspecies could harm the remaining tigers rather than benefit them. Preserving what is left of tigers’ genetic diversity will ensure that all remaining subspecies are taken into account.
Dr. Luo hopes that their new finding put to rest a decade-long debate over whether tigers constitute six, five or two subspecies. The latest analysis confirmed six living subspecies: Bengal, Amur, South China, Sumatran, Indochinese and Malayan. Scientists also believe that three additional subspecies — Caspian, Javan and Bali tigers, described in the 1930s — already have been lost to extinction.
A good summary of the article, Lauren, but who’s the audience?
The article I read was in the Independent, and English newspaper. The purpose of he article seems to be to make people care that big cats are going extinct. What’s the best way to do that?