A new survey conducted by biologists in Thailand's Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai forest shows tigers are breeding there. This is good news as the Indochinese subspecies
(P.t. corbetti) in on the brink, and comes after a decade of protection efforts by the DPKY Tiger Recovery Project. The estimated size of the population is
14-33 individuals. Study results are encouraging that Thailand may be able to meet its goal of increasing the number of tigers 50% by 2026. This population is globally important since tigers have vanished from
Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.
A recent genomics study
confirmed the existence of six distinct subspecies of tiger. (Panthera tigris) Three other subspecies described in the 30's are thought to be extinct. Fossil evidence indicates that the tiger emerged 2 million years ago in Asia. The modern tiger subspecies separated from a common ancestor about 110,000 years ago likely in southern China and Southeast Asia. Sumatran tigers, which live only on the island of Sumatra and are characterized by a smaller body size, diverged first. Researchers emphasize that saving tigers from extinction also involves preserving their genetic diversity that has evolved over the millennia. Some of the current populations outside of India and Russia may be too small to prevent them from succumbing to increasing extinction pressures.
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| mother and cub in DPKY, credit Freeland Foundation |
India has the most tigers still wild, while the United States has the world's largest captive tiger population. Today, there are about 3,900 wild tigers remaining from a century ago when there were an estimated 100,000. Failure to contain the illegal trade in wildlife will result in the tiger's extinction in the wild. Remote monitoring of a population seems to be the most effective way of protecting tigers from human predation. The study in DPKY used computer simulations to investigate how different camera trap placements and study duration affected population estimates. Tigers' preferred mature, dense forest habitat and few numbers make human tracking of this superb natural hunter difficult, if not impossible.
