Tigers confirmed as 6 subspecies: Why it's big deal for their conservation

The lack of genetic and morphological differences between mainland tigers could allow them to be managed as single subspecies

During my time as a zookeeper I had the privilege of working with both Sumatran and Amur tigers. If they did not both have stripes, you would think they were different species altogether.

The Sumatran tiger is the smallest alive today. At around 100kg, it’s “only” about the weight of a large adult male human. It is suited to the warm and wet forests of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, which is reflected in its smaller size and short, dark rusty orange coat which has many thin black stripes to conceal it in dense vegetation from their prey.

The Amur – or