ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - THE TIGER (Panthera tigris)

[Rishi]

(11-13-2019, 11:14 AM)Dennis Wrote:

(11-13-2019, 10:41 AM)BorneanTiger Wrote: Years before the Cat Specialist Group published the classification of 2 subspecies in 2017, this Mexican zoo was in such a rush to find a mate for a male Amur tiger that they got a Bengal tigress to mate with it, and produce a hybrid litter of cubs:

"AUDIO AS INCOMING

1. Various of female Bengal tiger with her cubs inside enclosure

2. Close-up of three cubs resting in hay

3. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Felipe Ramirez Sanchez, Jaguar Zoo veterinarian:

"The Siberian tiger species is a species that is in danger of extinction. Currently there are fewer than 2,000 of them in the wild, but there are more in captivity and there are different organisations around the world that are trying make sure this species does not disappear. In this park, we have a (male) Siberian tiger and it's important to us that they reproduce."

4. Various of female tiger cleaning her cubs in their enclosure

5. Mid of cubs

6. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Felipe Ramirez Sanchez, Jaguar Zoo veterinarian:

"This litter is the result of the mating of a female Bengal tiger and a male Siberian tiger. Despite being two different subspecies, the cross-mating was done successfully and the cubs are in good condition."

7. Close-up of cub opening its mouth

8. Mid female tiger with cub climbing over her paw

9. Various of cubs with their mother

10. Close-up of cubs

11. Mid of cubs sleeping while mother sits next to them

StorylineGo to top
Jaguar Zoo in southern Mexico has three new members, a litter of half-Bengal, half-Siberian tiger cubs born on 3 April.

The cubs made their public debut on Tuesday.

The zoo, located 43 kilometres (26 miles) south east of the city of Oaxaca, mated their 12-year-old Siberian male tiger named Yagul with an 8-year-old female Bengal tiger, Yaki, to produce the litter of three.

"Despite being from two different subspecies, the cross-mating was done successfully and the cubs are in good condition," said the zoo's veterinarian, Felipe Ramirez Sanchez.

Although the zoo lacks a specific breeding program for the critically endangered Siberian tigers, also known as Amur tigers, Ramirez said that they hope to find a Siberian female to mate with Yagul to produce fully Siberian cubs.

"The Siberian tiger species is a species that is in danger of extinction. Currently there are fewer than 2,000 of them in the wild," he noted, saying also that they will start searching for a Siberian mate in other Mexican zoos. Bengal tigers are more numerous and are only considered threatened," he said.

The relatively small zoo receives around a thousand visitors each week and features 70 animals from 50 different species."

I think the tigress herself is a hybrid between a Siberian and Bengal. After all, they don't really know for sure, she doesn't really look Bengal, more like a mix of both. And Siberian and Bengal tigers are definitely a separate subspecies no doubt about that.. wasn't there are study that showed contrary to the classification of 2 sub species?

Neither of the studies were absolute... The first one argued that all genes were present in all tigers back in the days. It claimed that whatever differences exist today are because of them getting separated from each other due to human interference. If one takes old hunting trophies & museum specimens into consideration, the genetic difference become negligible within the mainland & sundaland subspecies. While they proposed those be considered only subspecies, there is still a good chance that Mainland & Sundaland are two broader clades (like lions have Northern & Southern), with several closely related subspecies falling under the two groups.
The second "study" just picked few number of zoo tigers at random & "proved" that all tiger subspecies are genetically different. 

Anyways, the concept of clades & subspecies are all human constructs. Whatever is the level of differences between them, we need to consider them separate and protect them accordingly. Scientific studies are often proven wrong or incomplete in future and we can't risk producing genetic-cocktails based on a single hypothesis. Even within the Bengal subspecies that is spread over a large area, regional variations are clearly visible. Reply