Tech n Tiger!!!

[Guest guest]

May I offer my heartiest congratulations to the WCS & CWS for this major

breakthrough i.e. high-tech DNA n all that jazz! But we're forgetting one

critical point here gentlemen, that for this hi-tech DNA fecal sample study to

be effective and successful…..you first of all NEED to have Tigers…to count.

Right? I suggest you all start by crossing off the places like `Panna' and

`Sariska'…that would eventually reduce your task and certainly make it

easier……and within a few yrs native-tiger land like sunderbans, where camera

trapping is impractical due to the nature of the terrain…there you wouldn't need

all this technical stuff…your fingers would do the trick!

Talk abt major breakthroughs and future conservation efforts!!!!I am yet to see

it implemented!!!!!

 

Warm Regards

Radhika Singh

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Health--Science/Earth/Flora--Fauna/Major-brea\

kthrough-in-saving-tigers/articleshow/4675180.cms

 

Major breakthrough in saving tigers

19 Jun 2009, 1156 hrs IST, ANI

 

WASHINGTON: In a new study, a team of Indian scientists has announced a major

breakthrough in the science of saving tigers, namely, high-tech DNA fecal

sampling.

 

The study was conducted by Samrat Mondol, Anish Andheria and Uma Ramakrishnan,

of the National Centre for Biological Sciences; K Ullas Karanth, N Samba Kumar,

and Arjun M Gopalaswamy of the Wildlife Conservation Society and Centre for

Wildlife Studies.

 

According to the study, researchers will be able to accurately count and assess

tiger populations by identifying individual animals from the unique DNA

signature found in their dung.

 

In the past, DNA was collected from blood or tissue samples from tigers that

were darted and sedated.

 

The authors said this new non-invasive technique represents a powerful new tool

for measuring the success of future conservation efforts.

 

" This study is a breakthrough in the science of counting tiger numbers, which is

a key yardstick for measuring conservation success, " said noted tiger scientist

Dr Ullas Karanth of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

 

" The technique will allow researchers to establish baseline numbers on tiger

populations in places where they have never been able to accurately count them

before, " he added.

 

The study took place in India's Bandipur Reserve in Karnataka, a long-term WCS

research site in the Western Ghats that supports a high abundance of tigers.

 

Researchers collected 58 tiger scats following rigorous protocols; then

identified individual animals through their DNA.

 

Tiger populations were then estimated using sophisticated computer models.

 

These results were validated against camera trap data, where individual tigers

are photographed automatically and identified by their unique stripe pattern.

 

Camera-trapping is considered the gold standard in tiger population estimation,

but is impractical in several areas where tiger densities are low or field

conditions too rugged.

 

According to Karanth, " We see genetic sampling as a valuable additional tool for

estimating tiger abundance in places like the Russian Far East, Sunderban

mangrove swamps and dense rainforests of Southeast Asia where camera trapping

might be impractical due to various environmental and logistical constraints. "