Admixed Genetic Heritage
In the late 1990s, microsatellite analysis was used to identify hybrids of Indian and Siberian tigers through polymerase chain reaction amplification of hair samples. The study revealed that two tigers of the wild population of Dudhwa National Park had alleles contributed by both subspecies. Both tigers had an Indian tiger mitochondrial haplotype indicating that these animals had an Indian tiger mother.
In July 1976, Billy Arjan Singh acquired a hand-reared tigress from Twycross Zoo in the United Kingdom, and reintroduced her to the wild in Dudhwa National Park with the permission of India's then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. In the 1990s, some tigers from this area were observed to have the typical appearance of Siberian tigers: white complexion, pale fur, large head and wide stripes. It was later proved that the tigress was a hybrid Siberian-Bengal tigress. Dudhwa tigers constitute about 1% of India's total wild population, but the possibility exists of this admixed genetic heritage being passed on to other tiger populations and jeopardizing the Bengal tiger as a distinct subspecies.
Read more about this topic: Bengal Tiger, Ex Situ
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