In the 1940s, poaching reduced the Siberian tiger population to fewer than forty individuals, until Russia protected the species in 1947. Since then, the population has increased to about 900: with 421 in captivity, and an estimated 500 in the wild. Despite this recovery, the Amur tiger is at risk of a genetic bottleneck, where the gene pool is not large enough to prevent eventual deformities due to inbreeding. In fact, they exhibit the lowest genetic diversity of any wild species of tiger. Research led by a team from the University of British Columbia has shown that Amur tigers in the wild have an effective population -the number of individuals in a population who contribute offspring to the next generation- of just 27 to 35 individual tigers. However, despite their low levels of genetic diversity, Siberian tigers appear to be genomically sound -for now. While no physical symptoms of inbreeding depression have been reported in wild Amur tigers, the continued pressure on them by human development, separating the population into even smaller groups, may change that.
During the 2005 winter, fieldworkers traveled a total of about 26,000 km on foot, on skis, by snowmobile, and by car to log the exact location of tiger tracks, to attempt to gain a more exact idea of the population of Siberian tigers. Results of the survey put Amur tiger numbers at an estimated 334-417 adults and 97-112 cubs.
