IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| O'Brien, S.J.; Luo, S.-J.; Kim, J.-H.; Johnson, W.E. | |
| Molecular Genetic Analysis Reveals Six Living Subspecies of Tiger, _panthera tigris_ | |
| 2005 Cat News (42 ): 6-8 | |
Tigers historically inhabited much of Asia and likely numbered near 100,000 as recently as a century ago (Fig. 1). Today's tiger census is much lower, and is estimated by various sources to be around 7000 individuals in the wild (Nowell & Jackson,1996; Dinerstein et al 1997; Kitchener & Dugmore 2000). Tigers have been traditionally classified into eight subspecies (Fig. 1), three of which (P. t. sondaica-Javan tiger; P. t. balica-Bali tiger and P. t. virgata-Caspian tiger) were lost to extinction in the mid to late 20th century. The challenge to preserve the existing tiger populations has become a major goal of conservation efforts throughout their range. |
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