Scientists Want To Bring Back Extinct Caspian Tiger
Science to the rescue
Now I know A lot of us have seen the iconic blockbuster movie “Jurassic Park”. You know? The movie where these scientist extract the DNA from an ancient gigantic dinosaur from a mosquito trapped in the 65 million year old fossilized tree sap ? Well scientists are trying to recreate the same thing with attempting to bring back the Caspian tiger. Which was once one of the world’s largest tigers…
Until recently, the tigers roamed Central Asia, from the Caspian Sea to north-west China, before struggles that included loss of habitat robbed them of their prey.Ever since Caspian tigers disappeared, biologists and conservationists have tried to come up with a strategy to bring tigers back to Central Asia. It’s not clear exactly when the Caspian tiger died out. Some reports suggest it was last seen in the 1950s, while others date its extinction to the 1970s. Another tiger subspecies known as the Amur tiger is genetically very similar to the Caspian tiger and could potentially survive in Central Asia.
Between 2010 and 2012, scientists conducted studies that showed that Caspian and Amur tigers were almost identical in their genetic structure. Scientists now want to reintroduce tigers in Central Asia using Amur tigers from the Russian Far East. Researchers from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and State University of New York (SUNY) say they have found two spots in Kazakhstan to reintroduce the extinct enormous cat. Experts have been discussing the plans for nearly 10 years. Scientists say the project has some major hurdles before it could be undertaken.The potential tiger habitat needs to be protected. The species would also need hooved-animals to prey upon and numbers of these in the area are still low. This is predicted to take at least 15 years.