Siberian Tiger Population Is Drastically Low, Scientists Report

The effective population of the Amur tiger, also known as the Siberian tiger, is down to just 14 animals, scientists report in the journal Mammalian Biology.

There are about 500 Amur tigers currently surviving in the wild, but the effective population accounts for genetic diversity. BBC reports that the tiger has a very low diversity, which means that any disease or rare genetic disorders will probably be passed on to the next generation. A more diverse genetic population would increase the tiger's chance of survival -- it would be able to "cancel out" diseases and disorders with healthy genes.

The Amur tiger is the largest cat in the world. It once lived across China, Korea, and Russia, until the early 20th Century, when human settlements, habitat loss, and poaching drove the cats to near extinction. By the 1940's, less than 30 individual tigers survived in the wild -- this has now led to a "genetic bottleneck," destroying the Amur tiger gene pool. The results of this are seen today in the tiger's lack of genetic diversity.

Not just Amur tigers are at risk of extinction. The World Wildlife Fund reports that climate change may be shrinking tigers' habitat by 96%. Bengal tigers are shrinking in size due to stress over environmental changes. The WWF goes so far as to state that if no action is taken, tigers may become extinct in the next 12 years.

This past November, a summit was held focused on saving tigers from extinction. The summit's biggest news? It was probably that Leonardo DiCaprio survived a plane accident and still managed to attend. But also at the summit, countries agreed to double the tiger population by 2022 and crack down on poaching and illegal trade of tiger parts. It is an uphill battle, but one worth fighting.

Comments

[Bruisersmom]

03:40 PM on 03/14/2011

My dad and I love the big cats. They're so majestic. I hope they can save the Siberian tiger, and the Everglades Panther while I'm thinking about big cats. They already show the effects of too small of a breeding population with tails that aren't straight and other deformities.

[Poopy face]

04:01 PM on 03/11/2011

I blame Charlie Sheen for this...

[PinaColada]

03:59 PM on 03/11/2011

The number of Amur tigers is dangerously low. As was done for the California Condor, an effort to save the Amur Tigur has to start and soon. The Condor has been making a comeback due to efforts by man to have a breeding program and then a program to eventually re-introduce them back to the wild in a secure habitat. Similiarly, for the Amur Tiger, a program needs to begin to find where all the remaining Amur TIgers are to start a breeding program to diversify the gene pool. The Tigers may be in the wild, zoo, or people's residence. An effort to breed them is paramount. This would be the short-term strategy to stop their diminishing population. Also, the long-term strategy is too work with the govenments where the Amur Tiger lives to secure their habibat, create secure National Forest(s), or lands that have the protection for the tigers from proachers. Always, it takes dedicated people and money to achieve such worthy goals to save the beautiful Amur Tiger from extinction.

[HLL]

12:30 PM on 03/11/2011

"Don't it always seem to go
that you don't know what you've got
'til it's gone."
~ Joni Mitchell ☮

[hagagaga]

10:22 AM on 03/11/2011

There are some species which can't be saved anymore. We should protect the species that we can protect, but some are beyond the point of no return.

[blurredmolly]

02:32 PM on 03/10/2011

This where zoos play an important part.

[Tulka2]

01:14 PM on 03/11/2011

If you were the last giant Siberian tiger and had any kind 0f say-so about your future, you might choose to have your DNA frozen and die fighting man rather than let man put you in a cage.

[blurredmolly]

06:38 PM on 03/11/2011

I would think a breeding population is the way to go. Maybe not.

[pineappaloupe]

04:31 AM on 03/10/2011

can i haz more DNAz?

[Tulka2]

09:32 PM on 03/09/2011

I have skipped this story for three days because i taste bile.  The future will be astonished we let this creature go and it is of course because we gave up the Tiger's habitat for furniture from IKEA.  That's all Siberian forest you are buying at IKEA, you know.

[HLL]

12:55 PM on 03/11/2011

F & F ~ I frequently skip the Green section because I'm afraid of what I will find. There is endless devastation to animals and the Earth to report. It's heart crushing and frustrating. The future will look back on what we had and weep. They will be as amazed as we have been sound asleep ☮

[doctordoubt]

02:01 PM on 03/13/2011

I have, too. It's sad to know that, inspite of, or because of, man, these priceless animals may not survive our presense.

[zappush]

07:56 PM on 03/09/2011

breaks my heart...

[Isaac Kidd Fischer]

09:55 AM on 03/09/2011

Life on Earth is integrally interconnected. Just because we are human does not mean we can take, take, take more, take without need, and take simply out of greed from our planet and not expect to give back. "For every action there is equal and opposite reaction". Mankind is not exempt from this universal law. In the near distant future humans will pay for all the thoughtless & soulless crimes committed time and time again against nature. If you're currently not doing what you truly want to do with your life....if you're not living life to the fullest extent, get going. Last call!

[PinaColada]

03:58 PM on 03/08/2011

It would be a shame on the human race if the Siberian Tiger becomes extinct. There should be money to fund a breeding program for those cats that are in the wild and in captivity, such as in zoos and in people's homes, just as there was a program to bring back the Condor from near extinction. But, i am afraid, that our ineffectual Congress would not see the wisdom in funding such a cause.

[Tulka2]

09:35 PM on 03/09/2011

Siberian Tigers need a temperate rain forest.   hello?  Not money.  Not a breeding program.  Gone.  The forest is gone.

[d00gle]

02:36 PM on 03/08/2011

"A more diverse genetic population would increase the tiger's chance of survival" That goes for many tribal villages in Africa and towns of Tenn, Miss.

[Tulka2]

09:33 PM on 03/09/2011

Humans can exist with rats at the edge of garbage dumps and they will have to.

[CAMBEL]

01:35 PM on 03/08/2011

Are all the PC folks out there going to ramble on and on that nobody should judge another culture...or can we actually state that the Chinese herbalists need to be dragged kicking and screaming out of the 7th century and stop selling ground tiger penis and rhino horn as aphrodesiacs.

[zappush]

08:03 PM on 03/09/2011

Every endangered species I've ever heard of is killed for traditional Chinese medicine. It's infuriating. So I agree but as a whole, I think homo sapiens is one of the worst species on the planet.

[Zuljenah]

11:35 AM on 03/08/2011

Sadly, there are MORE tigers held captive in America (private homes, side road shows, etc.) than there are left in the wild ! There needs to be stricter laws in America preventing people from keeping exotic pets. Also, damn China and its poaching. Seriously, can't they live without their fur and ivory? It's really sad what they are doing to magnificent creatures. Seriously pissed at China.

[d00gle]

02:18 PM on 03/08/2011

Seems the tigers are safer in captivity...

As for China, they do a lot of things we don't like, yet we support them daily in our purchases from walmart and other discount junk. Further, we borrow money from them at the federal level. We can't tell them what to do unless we hold the purse strings.

[Zuljenah]

05:20 PM on 03/08/2011

I know we can't tell them what to do... But if only we could make them realize how wrong poaching is and how it's destroying eco systems.

And unfortunately not all tigers are safer in captivity, especially when they are living in horrendous conditions where they can't even get their daily exercise, like Tony the Tiger in Louisiana who lives in a small concrete and steel enclosure at a truck stop. You can google him if you'd like. It's really sad. And then sanctuaries in America aren't large enough and well funded enough to take in all the wild cats who are turned in, and these poor cats then have to be euthanized... If only they weren't removed from the wild to begin with.

[LiveTheSheenDream]

03:49 AM on 03/08/2011

i love how they blame the near-extinction population levels on climate change when everybody knows its poachers feeding Chinese illicit demand for tiger body parts