An artist's depiction of a Caspian tigerHEPTNER AND SLUDSKIY, 1972 The Caspian tiger went extinct around 50 years ago, but scientists hope to bring a similar tiger species back to areas of central Asia that are still habitable for these large cats, according to a study published in Biological Conservation last year (December 1).
The 300-pound feline once roamed much of Central Asia, but poaching and habitat destruction led to its extinction in the 1960s. "When [the Caspian tiger] disappeared, the number of nations that hosted tiger populations was reduced by more than half,” study co-author James Gibbs, a conservation biologist and director of the Roosevelt Wild Life Station at the College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF), said in a statement.
While the Caspian tiger is gone, scientists hope to introduce a close relative, the Amur tiger, to take its place. Researchers conducted a literature review that revealed that the Caspian tiger once occupied between 800,000 and 900,000 square kilometres around wetlands and rivers. Using this information, the group found two habitable patches, both in Kazakhstan, where Amur ...
