Simultaneous polyandry and heteropaternity in tiger (Panthera tigris altaica): Implications for conservation of genetic diversity in captive populations of felids

Abstract

Male tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) in captivity copulate alternatively with an estrous female, suggesting a potential for heteropaternity as an effective reproductive strategy to maximize genetic diversity of offspring. We analyzed microsatellites to test and compare the genetic output of multiple male mating (simultaneous polyandry) and single male mating (monogamy) with a female in a captive population. Simultaneous polyandry resulted in heteropaternity in 66.7% observed litters. No significant differences between parental populations and between offspring populations were detected in the number of alleles (A), expected heterozygosity (H e ), number of effective alleles (N e ) per locus and standard individual heterozygosity (SH) (P>0.05 for all 4 indexes). Comparisons showed no significant reduction of A, H o , H e and SH from parental population to offspring population for the two mating modes (P>0.05) except for SH in polyandrous families (P=0.029). However, such reduction was equivalent to single mating families when the influence of relatedness was eliminated using effective SH (E SH ) (P>0.05). These results highlight an alternative strategy for managing captive populations of tiger and other wild felids in which animals are combined at one location allowing for copulation by multiple males to encourage heteropaternity in favor of maintained genetic diversity among offspring.

Chromosome‐scale genomes reveal genomic consequences of inbreeding in the South China tiger: A comparative study with the Amur tiger

“…Two sorts of inbreeding depression have been recognized in the current SCT population, high juvenile, especially neonatal mortality (Yuan et al, 2021 ) and impaired adult fertility (Yuan et al, 2020 ; Yuan et al, 2021 ). In contrast, the extent of this inbreeding depression is slight in AT (Liu et al, 2013 ). We observed that ROH and IBD segments on SCT genomes were greater in number, mean size and total length than on AT genomes (Figures 4a,b and 5a,b ).…”

Estimating the Population Size and Genetic Diversity of Amur Tigers in Northeast China

“…A distinct target band was detected by agarose gel electrophoresis at least twice after being screened three times to identify the species. The tiger-positive samples were genotyped at thirteen nuclear microsatellite loci (FCA304, F42, FCA77; FCA105, FCA441; FCA161, D06, FCA723; 6HDZ089, FCA32, FCA94; F124, FCA391), which were selected for their highly polymorphic information content, ease of amplification and low error rate determined in previous tiger studies [ 19 , 23 , 29 ]. Three of the microsatellites were omitted because they were not polymorphic (FCA32 and FCA391) or there was a low rate of amplification (FCA723).…”

Patterns of Diurnal and Nocturnal Cub-Directed Social Interaction and Guarding Behaviour in Sumatran Tigers

“…Similar findings have been revealed in group-housed domestic cats (Felis catus) [24], suggesting that behavioural plasticity in terms of group size may be more widespread across felids than has previously been cited. The affiliative interactions between father and offspring are promising in terms of alternative strategies for housing felids in captivity [25].…”

“…Tigers are known to spend up to 75% of the day inactive, however males are normally more active than females [14,25,26]. Therefore, it could be suggested that the adult male was more inactive than the adult female due to the adult female's vigilance and care of her cubs.…”