Famous Big Cats from India Face Threats of Extinction

Mon, 05/20/2013 - 13:35 by Emilia Marowanyanga

 

Scientists have warned that collapse in the variety of mating partners is posing a grave threat of extinction of famed big cats of India. Welsh researchers said that tigers nearly wiped out in India during British rule. The mechanized trophy hunting was the predominant cause behind the wipe out.

Scientists, for the first time, compared the data of modern tigers with tigers shot during the time of the British Raj so as to have a better perspective of genetic diversity.

The researches were granted an unprecedented access to Natural History Museum of London's tiger collection. They found a very high number of DNA variants in the tigers shot during the British rule. The scientists revealed that 93% of the DNA was shockingly missing in Indian tigers today.

During the last three generations, the territory, occupied with tigers, has sought a decline for more than 50%. The latest research said that only seven percent mating occurs of its historical territory.

Scientists from Cardiff University said that both conservationists and the Indian government must appreciate that the species' survival cannot be ensured by the number of tigers alone. The whole spread of forest reserves have to be protected, as many reserves have their own unique gene combinations, which might be useful for future breeding programmes.

sources