This work was undertaken upon the request and financial support from BTR Authority. Scat samples collected by BTR authority were handed over to Wildlife Genetics Laboratory of Aaranyak situated at Guwahati, Assam, India. We have used genetic markers developed by other Researchers to identify tiger scats from other sympatric carnivores such as leopard. We have used a set of highly polymorphic microsatellite markers to identify tiger individuals and sex chromosome linked markers to identify gender of the tiger scat samples. We have maintained stringent laboratory conditions for assessing and minimizing error associated with genetic identification of individuals. We hereby confirm the presence of 15 individual tigers, including 3 male and 9 female tigers. For three individuals, we could not determine the gender identity following the methodology described in this study. Our study shows that DNA-based techniques of identification of individual tigers may be considered as a practical and low cost option for population estimation and long term monitoring of this species in the protected areas of India. For further information click here.
