White, Black & Golden Tigers

[GuateGojira]

(07-13-2014, 09:27 PM)'Pckts' Wrote: Gaute, you're reasonable. You have seen the original picutre, correct?
If it is not a color image that looks natural, then there is something that could be slightly fishy. I believe Corbett as much as I believe any other Big cat expert or Biologist. But all people have alterior motives from time to time, I am not saying that is the case for corbett. But imagine the attention one would get for the claim of discovering the only white tiger alive.
Just sayen, its something to think about.

I read the first article, but it doesn't say anything about white tigers surviving in the wild and its still unsure if the white gene contributes to the birth defects or not.


I guess you and I have different interpretations of "conserve"
I believe the only way to conserve any species is for us to let it be. We need to protect animals from us, simple as that.
Get out of their way, stop taking all their land, leave them be. 
If the white gene existed long ago, it will and does still exist now. If its meant to occur, it will because evolution only keeps something that is a benefit. 

 

You are assuming things that don't exist Pckts, the picture is real, the author is highly reliable, but now you think that all this is fishy??? This is not been reasonable, this is denying evidence. Why you can't believe that there were wild white tigers in the past? There is direct evidence of this animals and they not only existed, but they also breed in the wild. Jim Cobertt is the best example and like I said before, Peter show a picture of a subadult white tigers hunted in the wild, with measurements and all the thing. Jim Corbett don't need this type of publicity, he was one of the first naturalist that actually saw a tiger without a gun in its hands. It is like to say that Dr Sunquist have saw a white tiger, I will surely believe in him too.

The first article mention cases of wild white tigers hunted in the past and even state that there are observations of this specimens since the year 1500. What document are you reading??? Besides, check the conclusion:
"Mapping the white mutation in the tiger to the A477V substitution
in the transporter protein SLC45A2 proves the efficiency of
using pedigree-based GWAS followed by WGS to identify
causative genes and mutations based upon next-generation
RAD-seq in an exotic species. For the variety of charismatic
nonmodel organisms carrying unique or significant phenotypes
that are controlled by single genes, this approach promises
to be a simple, efficient, and cost-effective means of gene
and mutation mapping. Because the SLC45A2 A477V substitution
affects the white tiger’s pigmentation only, without
causing severe physiological defects, we argue that the white
tiger morph is a naturally occurring and viable feature of genetic
diversity in tigers."

Did you see? It is possible to save the white gene without all the birth complications caused by the inbreeding, not the white gene itself.

Finally, your idea of conservation is an utopia in modern times. We can't just let go nature to do its business because the damage done is too great. At this point, human intervention is necessary to recover the species, directly or indirectly. The white gene is extinct in the wild not because the evolution do it, but it was the human intervention. So, it is the responsibility of the humans to restore it to the wild. Besides, there was a genetic balance in the past, that was destroyed by the overkill, so this balance can and most be restored via new genetic advances and biotechnology. This is possible and most be used in this case.
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