JoTT OpiniOn 4(6): 2637–2643 A postulate for tiger recovery: the case of the Caspian Tiger C.A. Driscoll 1,2 , I. Chestin 3 , H. Jungius 4 , O. Pereladova 5 , Y. Darman 6 , E. Dinerstein 7 , J. Seidensticker 8 , J. Sanderson 9 , S. Christie 10 , S.J. Luo 11 , M. Shrestha 12 , Y. Zhuravlev 13 , O. Uphyrkina 13 , Y.V. Jhala 14 , S.P. Yadav 15 , D.G. Pikunov 16 , N. Yamaguchi 17 , D.E. Wildt 18 , J.L.D. Smith 19 , L. Marker 20 , P.J. Nyhus 21 , R. Tilson 22 , D.W. Macdonald 23 & S.J. O’Brien 24 1,23 Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, The Recanati-Kaplan Centre, Tubney House, Abingdon Road, Tubney, Oxon OX13 5QL, UK 1,24 Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD 21702 USA 2 Present address: WWF Chair in Conservation Genetics at WII Faculty of Wildlife Sciences, Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001, India 3 WWF Russia, Nikoloyamskaya St.,19, bd.3, Moscow, 109240, Russia 4 WWF International, La Delaissee 13, 1270 Trelex, Switzerland 5 WWF Russia, Central Asia Programme, Nikoloyamskaya St., 19, bld. 3 Moscow, 109240 Russia 6 WWF Russia, Amur Branch, Verkhneportovaya St., 18A, Vladivostok, 690003, Russia 7 WWF US, Conservation Science Program, 1250 24 th St., NW, Washington, DC 20037 USA 8 Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Conservation Ecology Center, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC, 20013 USA 9 Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center, Institute for the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, 85721 USA 10 Conservation Programmes, The Zoological Society of London, Regents Park, London NW14RY, UK 11 School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China 12 Save The Tiger Fund, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, 1133 15 th St., NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20005 USA 13 Institute of Biology and Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, 159, Prospect 100-letya, Vladivostok 690022 Russia 14 Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun 248001, India 15 National Tiger Conservation Authority, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India, New Delhi, India 16 Paciic Institute of Geography, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Radio St. 7, Vladivostok, 690041, Russia 17 Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences, University of Qatar, PO Box 2713 Doha, Qatar 18 Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, NZP Conservation and Research Center, Front Royal VA, 22630 USA 19 Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA 20 Cheetah Conservation Fund, P.O. Box 1755, Otjiwarongo, Namibia 21 Environmental Studies Program, Colby College, Waterville, ME, 04901 USA 22 Department of Conservation, Minnesota Zoo, Apple Valley, MN, 55124 USA Email: 1 carlos.driscoll@nih.gov (corresponding author), 3 ichestin@wwf.ru, 4 hjungius@sunrise.ch, 5 opereladova@wwf.ru, 6 ydarman@amur.wwf.ru, 7 eric.dinerstein@wwfus.org, 8 seidenstickerj@si.edu, 9 gato_andino@yahoo.com, 10 sarah.christie@zsl. org, 11 luo.shujin@gmail.com, 12 mahendra.shrestha@nfwf.org, 13 zhuravlev@ibss.dvo.ru, 14 jhalay@wii.gov.in, 15 jdntca@gmail.com, 16 pikunov-dmitri@yandex.ru, 17 yamaguchi@qu.edu.qa, 18 WildtD@si.edu, 19 jlds@umn.edu, 20 cheetah@grumpy.net.na, 21 pjnyhus@ colby.edu, 22 ron.tilson@state.mn.us, 23 David.Macdonald@zoo.ox.ac.uk, 24 stephen.obrien@nih.gov OPEN ACCESS | FREE DOWNLOAD Date of publication (online): 26 June 2012 Date of publication (print): 26 June 2012 ISSN 0974-7907 (online) | 0974-7893 (print) Editor: Mark Stanley Price Manuscript details: Ms # o2993 Received 08 November 2011 Final revised received 23 April 2012 Finally accepted 21 May 2012 Citation: Driscoll, C.A., I. Chestin, H. Jungius, O. Pereladova, Y. Darman, E. Dinerstein, J. Seidensticker, J. Sanderson, S. Christie, S.J. Luo, M. Shrestha, Y. Zhuravlev, O. Uphyrkina, Y.V. Jhala, S.P. Yadav, D.G. Pikunov, N. Yamaguchi, D.E. Wildt, J.L.D. Smith, L. Marker, P.J. Nyhus, R. Tilson, D.W. Macdonald & S.J. O’Brien (2012). A postulate for tiger recovery: the case of the Caspian Tiger. Journal of Threatened Taxa 4(6): 2637–2643. Copyright, Acknowledgements and Logos: See end of this artilce. Abstract: Recent genetic analysis has shown that the extinct Caspian Tiger (P. t. virgata) and the living Amur Tigers (P. t. altaica) of the Russian Far East are actually taxonomically synonymous and that Caspian and Amur groups historically formed a single population, only becoming separated within the last 200 years by human agency. A major conservation implication of this inding is that tigers of Amur stock might be reintroduced, not only back into the Koreas and China as is now proposed, but also through vast areas of Central Asia where the Caspian tiger once lived. However, under the current tiger conservation framework the 12 “Caspian Tiger States” are not fully involved in conservation planning. Equal recognition as “Tiger Range States” should be given to the countries where the Caspian tiger once lived and their involvement in tiger conservation planning encouraged. Today, preliminary ecological surveys show that some sparsely populated areas of Central Asia preserve natural habitat suitable for tigers. In depth assessments should be completed in these and other areas of the Caspian range to evaluate the possibility of tiger reintroductions. Because tigers are a charismatic umbrella species, both ecologically and politically, reintroduction to these landscapes would provide an effective conservation framework for the protection of many species in addition to tigers. And for today’s Amur Tigers this added range will provide a buffer against further loss of genetic diversity, one which will maintain that diversity in the face of selective pressures that can only be experienced in the wild. Keywords: Caspian Tiger, Central Asia, human conlict, large carnivore, phylogenetic, reintroduction, Tiger Range State. Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | June 2012 | 4(6): 2637–2643 2637