'Black' and 'golden' tigers point to challenges in India's tiger conservation story

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Relate to 2019 'A' level AQ on zoo, specifically the point on preventing extinction.....useful rebuttal...

This has created isolated groups susceptible to inbreeding over time, potentially putting them at risk of deleterious genetic mutations that could affect their long-term survival.

inbreeding caused by isolation is "most likely responsible" for a high frequency of pseudo-melanism among tigers in Similipal Tiger Reserve in eastern India's Odisha state, resulting in what has been described widely as the "black tiger" phenomenon. This abnormal colouration is the result of a rare genetic mutation 

genetic mutation that resulted in their black stripes broadening and blurring into their tawny coat.

This is not the only instance of colour aberration noted among wild tigers in India. Earlier this year in July, photographs of a "golden tiger" taken by wildlife photographer Mayuresh Hendre in Assam's Kaziranga National Park - one of four such tigers there - were circulated widely online, raising concerns that this too could be a result of inbreeding.

Inbreeding is known to have adverse consequences on the fitness of mammals, and the study points out such examples in several endangered carnivore species, such as grey wolves and Florida panthers, resulting in a higher probability of their extinction.