There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
07-15-2014, 04:46 AM( This post was last modified: 07-15-2014, 04:50 AM by tigerluver )
Before you read anymore, I will repeat myself. Rewilding and white genes in the tigers case should not be a focus at the moment in my opinion. Doesn't mean having a backup plan will hurt. Read on.
In order of how you posted each point:
The horse program successfully re-wilded the species. Think more than just about tigers. It's a big world out there. Tigers, fortunately, aren't in the state of that horse. The Smithsonian program is right now breeding a handful of specimens, outbreeding every generation. The Sumatran tigers are quite genetically heathy at the moment. The cubs are quite big as well. Look up Smithsonian tigers, a great read tracking the cubs.
The points I am not replying to is because they derail the topic, so don't discuss the third world dilemma anymore with me, please.
These captive specimens should not be rushed back into the wild just to meet their demise like the wild specimens are. These specimens just need to be at hand. Look what happened to the northern white rhino. Not enough captive specimens were collected and bred, and extinction inevitable. The human interference I say is needed is the one to counter the intereference by unwelcome humans. There's no choice, we saved the Przewalski's horse and successfully rewilded it thanks to "counter" human interference. That is a fact of life we have to deal with.
The tigress is clearly there, I can make out the facial features on top of it being cited by Corbett, who is very reliable. Denying a reliable figure so stubbornly is also quite dangerous. There are other accounts as well. I'll post them later, but, not to debate, but for the information of the people viewing the thread. Let's just agree to disagree.
I rebutted your propostions to the ill effects of adding some heterozygous specimens of wild tiger if ever need be here:
"You're answer to my question of how heterozygous regular specimens hurt a population is that you want evidence of my proposition. You dodge the question, we both don't have concrete evidence. You presented a faulty argument. An increase in tiger population when numbers are already low is bad? Furthermore, I said have heterzygous specimens at hand. They're regular colored. They have a larger gene pool, that is an advantage you are overlooking. Why are you jumping to the idea of just letting out some captive white tigers in the wild? I never said that. Even then, a white tiger or two popping here and there will increase poaching? So they'll start shooting orange tigers hoping one of them turns white? Poachers are ignorant, but not that much. The human contact part, what do you mean? If human contact is such a problem, let's end the captive breeding programs. Ecotourism is a big part in conservation. To save animals, we need money."
The captive Przewalski's horse we had available were much more than a science experiment my friend, they saved a whole species.