John Varty & Tiger Canyon

[Siegfried]

This reminds me a little of dog breeding.  It is all about controlling gene flow. 

With dogs man has simply bred poodle to poodle and spaniel to spaniel.   

We sort of do the same things with tigers. 

First, we helped to create these genetically distinct populations with our siezure of habitat and the development of cities. These isolated populations became more distinct as tigers were exterminated in overlapping areas. Our man-made barriers continue to limit normal gene flow throughout the overall wild tiger population.

Then we attempt to maintain these subspecies in captivity by only placing value on the tigers that have that particular set of geographically based genetics and only allowing breedings to other similar tigers.

I suspect tigers themselves probably wouldn't be quite as particular in choosing a mate...

Next thing you know some subspecies of tigers will start to be afflicted with hip dysplasia. 





 

 
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