Jan. 16, 2013 As rapid economic expansion continues to shape the
Asian landscape on which many species depend, time is running
out for conservationists aiming to save wildlife such as tigers
and leopards. Scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology
Institute have used genetic analysis to find that the natural
forest corridors in India are essential to ensuring a future for
these species. According to two studies recently published in
two papers, these corridors are successfully connecting
populations of tigers and leopards to ensure genetic diversity
and gene flow. The results of the study that focused on tigers
were published in Ecology and Evolution, and the results from
the study that tracked leopards were published in Diversity and
Distributions. "This research provides crucial information about
the need to maintain these vital veins to support tiger and
leopard populations," said Sandeep Sharma, SCBI visiting scholar
and lead author of the Ecology and Evolution paper. "These
habitats and corridors