🤯 Did You Know (click to read)
Genetic diversity allows populations to better withstand disease outbreaks and environmental change.
Genetic analyses of fragmented tiger populations in Sumatra have identified reduced diversity in certain isolated groups. When populations fall to small numbers, inbreeding becomes more likely. Reduced heterozygosity can lower disease resistance and reproductive success. For a species with fewer than 400 individuals, each isolated cluster carries elevated risk. Connectivity between forest blocks is essential to maintain gene flow. Without corridors, demographic resilience erodes silently. DNA evidence provides early warning long before visible decline. The threat is statistical yet tangible.
💥 Impact (click to read)
Genetic bottlenecks constrain long-term recovery potential. Even if habitat stabilizes, limited diversity can cap population growth. Conservation planning increasingly incorporates genetic monitoring. Corridors and translocations may mitigate isolation effects. However, such interventions require political coordination and funding. The tiger’s evolutionary future depends on maintaining variability.
For the public, extinction often appears sudden. In reality, it can unfold through gradual genetic narrowing. The idea that a predator may persist physically yet lose adaptive capacity is unsettling. Survival is not only about numbers but about genetic breadth. The Sumatran tiger’s resilience now depends on invisible molecular diversity.
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