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Some information about Siberian tigers in the International Tiger Studbook.
In the International Tiger Studbook there are
about 550 Amur (Siberian) tigers in zoos alive today,
these 550 Siberian tigers are descended from 109 wild-caught Founders.
Orginally there was 134 wild-caught "Founders" taken from Russia,
and from them 109 wild-caught "Founders" have left
living descendants alive today.
The Founders are the original tigers taken from the wild and put into zoos.
Most of the 109 Siberian tiger Founders was taken in the 1950s and 1960s.
All of the Siberian tiger wild-caught Founders
are registered in the studbook, the first one
registered was in the year 1954.
When those wild-caught Founders was registered in the
studbook they was registered as wild-caught and given a studbook number.
All of the descendants of those
wild-caught Founders are also given a studbook number along
with both parents studbook numbers.
Because each individual is given a studbook number
along with both its parents studbook numbers we
can trace each individuals ancestry back without
interruption up to the wild-caught Founders.
The tiger studbook only
register tigers that are offspring of parents that
are already registered in the studbook, and every
tiger registered have to be able to be traced back
without interruption up to the wild-caught Founder.
The studbook also gives the location an individual
is kept and any transfers to another location, also
the date of birth and place of birth, and when it dies the date.
Thanks to the studbook we know that all the tigers
registered in the studbook are 100% pure-bred.
From the year 1954 to the year 2005 a total
of 4930 Siberian tigers have been registered in the studbook,
and some more will certainly have been registered since then.
Most of the studbook registered 550 Siberian tigers alive
today in zoos take part in breeding programs like the-
EEP Europe (26 counties take part in the EEP for Siberian tigers)
SSP in North America
SSCJ Japan
These breeding programs use the Tiger studbook
to make breeding recommendations.
Genetic diversity is very good in the Siberian tiger zoo
population because of the large amount of Founders and
very good management from the breeding programs.
Most zoos that hold tigers are sent a copy of the
latest studbook from the studbook keeper Peter Muller
at the Leipzig zoo Germany.
I have looked in the latest copy of the tiger
studbook and below i`ve given the latest numbers of
the 5 sub-species of tigers alive today in zoos according to the
studbook, and also the number of Founders for each population.
Siberian tiger - the population is
about 550 in captivity alive today,
these are descended from 109 Founders.
Bengal tiger - the population is
about 210 in captivity alive today,
these are descended from 29 Founders.
Sumatran tiger - the population is
about 223 in captivity alive today,
these are descended from 39 Founders.
Indo-Chinese tiger - the population is
about 134 in captivity alive today,
these are descended from 14 Founders.
South-China tiger - the population is
about 41 in captivity alive today,
these are descended from 6 Founders
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