Genetic Diversity of the Amur Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica): Are There Differences between the 20th and the Early 21st Centuries?

Polymorphism of nine microsatellite loci in the Sikhote-Alin tiger population was analyzed in the modern and recent historical periods, using blood, excrement, and museum bone samples. Tests for excess heterozygosity to determine whether the population went through a period of low abundance and a low value of the Garza-Williamson coefficient indicated that such events were highly probable to occur in both recent and earlier history. The mean effective population size Ne of a current sample was 34.4 (95% confidence interval 17-106.8). This fact is of great interest in the contest of conservation and restoration of endangered large cat species.