Abstract
Chinese tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis Hilzheimer) was once distributed in the Zhejiang Province, China, but there have not been any tiger sightings in this province since 1985. Fortunately, within the boundaries of the Fengyangshan-baishanzu State Natural Reserve, gamekeepers have found ‘tiger footprints’ and ‘tiger faeces’ many times since 1998. However, these tracks may have been left by the leopard or clouded leopard, which leave similar tracks. The presence of the Chinese tiger in Zhejiang Province was demonstrated using DNA fingerprinting and faecal DNA. The study not only revealed a new habitat for Chinese tigers, Zhejiang Province, but also provided an effective scatology method to identify the distribution of tigers and other wild felines.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albaugh G.P., Iyengar V., Lohani A., Malayeri M., Bala S. and Nair P.P. 1992. Isolation of exfoliated colonic epithelial cells, a novel, non-invasive approach to the study of cellular markers. International Journal of Cancer 52: 347–350.
Bruford M.W., Hanotte O., Brookfield J.Y. and Burke T. 1992. Single-locus and multilocus DNA fingerprinting. In: Hoelzd A.R. (ed.), Molecular Genetic Analysis of Populations: A Practical Approach. IRL Press, Oxford, UK, pp. 225–269.
Eizirik E., Bonatto S.L., Johnson W.E., Crawshaw P.G. Jr, Vie J.C., Brousset D.M. et al. 1998. Phylogeographic patterns and evolution of the mitochondrial DNA control region in two neotropical cats (Mammalia, felidae). Journal of Molecular Evolution 47: 613–624.
Ernest H.B., Penedo M.C.T., May B.P., Syvanen M. and Boyce W.M. 2000. Molecular tracking of mountain lions in the YosemiteValley region in California: genetic analysis using microsatellites and faecal DNA. Molecular Ecology 9: 433–441.
Fang S. and Wan Q. 2002. A genetic fingerprinting test for identifying carcasses of protected deer species in China. Biological Conservation 103: 371–372.
Fang S.G., Wan Q.H. and Fujihara N. 2002a. A new oligonucleotide probe for the giant panda. Molecular Ecology Notes 2: 245–248.
Fang S.G., Wan Q.H. and Fujihara N. 2002b. Genetic diversity of the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) between big and small populations. Journal of Applied Animal Research 21: 65–74.
Farrell L.E., Roman J. and Sunquist M.E. 2000. Dietary separation of sympatric carnivores identified by molecular analysis of scats. Molecular Ecology 9: 1583–1590.
Foran D.R., Crooks K.R. and Minta S.C. 1997. Species identification from scat: an unambiguous genetic method. Wildlife Society Bulletin 25: 835–839.
Frantzen M.A., Silk J.B., Ferguson J.W., Wayne R.K. and Kohn M.H. 1998. Empirical evaluation of preservation methods for faecal DNA. Molecular Ecology 7: 1423–1428.
Heath D.D., Hatcher D.R. and Hilbish T.J. 1996. Ecological interaction between sympatric Mytilus species on the west coast of Canada investigated using PCR markers. Molecular Ecology 5: 443–447.
Jing K. 1999. A special investigation to wild population of China tiger. Wildlife 20 (in Chinese): 46.
Kohn M.H., York E.C., Kamradt D.A., Haught G., Sauvajot R.M. and Wayne R.K. 1999. Estimating population size by genotyping faeces. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, Biological Sciences 266: 657–663.
Nowell K. and Jackson P. 1996. Status survey and conservation action plan: Wild Cats. IUCN/SSC Cat Special Group, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, pp. 55–65.
Reed J.Z., Tollit D.J., Thompson P.M. and Amos W. 1997. Molecular scatology: the use of molecular genetic analysis to assign species, sex and individual identity to seal faeces. Molecular Ecology 6: 225–234.
Schäer R., Zischer H., Birsner U., Becher A. and Epplen J.T. 1988. Optimized oligonucleotide probe for DNA fingerprinting. Electrophoresis 9: 369–374.
Wan Q.H. and Fang S.G. 2002. Reduced genetic diversity in a breeding population of the Chinese sucker (Myxocyrinus asiaticus Bleeker) as revealed by DNA fingerprinting. Journal of Freshwater Ecology 17: 269–274.
Wan Q.H. and Fang S.G. 2003. Species-specific ‘fingerprints’ of deer in China. Biodiversity and Conservation 12: 1253–1260.
Wang S. 1998. China Red Data Book of Endangered Animals (mammalia). Science Press, Beijing, China, pp. 119–125.
Wasser S.K., Houston C.S., Koehler G.M., Cadd G.G. and Fain S.R. 1997. Techniques for application of faecal DNA methods to field studies of Ursids. Molecular Ecology 6: 1091–1097.
Zhuge Y. 1990. Animal Journal of Zhejiang Province (mammalia). Zhejiang Science and Technology Press, Hangzhou, China, pp. 125–126.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wan, QH., Fang, SG., Chen, GF. et al. Use of oligonucleotide fingerprinting and faecal DNA in identifying the distribution of the Chinese tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis Hilzheimer). Biodiversity and Conservation 12, 1641–1648 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023693613608
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023693613608