Environment

Siberian Tiger Nearly Extinct: Effective Wild Pop. Less Than 35

by alia_d | July 2, 2009 at 09:42 am

2016 views | 16 Recommendations | 6 comments

Scientists at the University of British Columbia have discovered that the Siberian tiger, the world's largest cat, has an effective wild population of less than 35. The Siberian tiger, which is also known as the Amur tiger, is the largest of nine subspecies of tigers.

Although up to 500 of the big cats actually survive in the wild, the effective population is a measure of their genetic diversity.

That in turn is a good predictor of the Amur tiger's chances of survival.

Measures to protect the Siberian tiger have increased since the beginning of the 20th century. As a result of poaching and human expansion, only 20-30 Siberian tigers remained in the wild by the 1940s. Though the population has increased today as a result of conservation efforts, with 500 Siberian tigers in the wild and 421 in captivity, this new study indicates that the Siberian tiger's genetic health has not improved.

Another important finding to emerge from the study is that the remaining Siberian tigers are segregated into two populations that rarely intermingle.

[...]

The two groups are separated by a corridor of development between Vladivostok and Ussurisk, and the genetic analysis showed that perhaps just three tigers had managed to cross the divide, reducing the effective size of the wild population further.

"There is little sharing of genes across the development corridor, suggesting that these two populations are fairly discrete," says Russello.

This has further decreased the genetic health of the Amur tiger.

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amyjudd

at 10:20 on July 2nd, 2009

This is beyond sad to me, I love tigers. When I was searching for some videos I came across many that showed people hunting these tigers and then showcasing them to the camera after they had killed them; shameful behaviour, I can't believe someone would do this to such an amazing and endangered animal.

Viviana_

at 05:16 on July 3rd, 2009

René

at 06:41 on July 3rd, 2009

Really not sure how 500 wild tigers equals only 35.

Jonathan Brosef (not verified)

at 13:41 on July 4th, 2009

Read the article, Rene.

René

at 11:19 on July 5th, 2009

I read the article, and think it is bogus. Siberian tigers are coming back, and still 500 does not equal 35. guess somebody needs financing.

Tiger populations in other parts of the world are under more stress and danger than Siberian tigers.

Watkins-Hire

at 00:00 on July 10th, 2009

i remember my only encounter wid siberian tiger was wen i had visited darjeeling zoo in india.... and i guess thats the only zoo in india where you would find siberian tiger.... it was sad to see such a huge creature kept enclosed in such a small space....but neway its not safe to let them roam free in the wild ... unless n until something is done about their safety...