Reanalysis of sequences of alleged Javan tiger highlights the difficulties in studying big cats and the need for high throughput sequencing.

Abstract

Big cats are of conservation concern throughout their range. Genetic tools are often employed to study them for various purposes. However, there are several difficulties in using genetic tools for big cat conservation which may be resolved by modern methods of DNA sequencing. Recent reports of discovery of Javan tigers in West Java, Indonesia highlights this. We reanalysed the data of the original reports and find that the results were unreliable. However, resequencing of the DNA extracts confirm that the sighting could have been that of a tiger, but the subspecies cannot be confirmed. The work highlights the urgency for development of high throughput sequencing infrastructure in the tropics and the need for reliable databases for studies of big cats.