Wild animals are an integral component of the
ecosystem. Their decimation due to abrupt natural calamities or due to gradual
human intervention would be disastrous to the
ecosystem and would alter the balance in
nature between various biotic components. Such an imbalance could have an adverse effect on the
ecosystem. Therefore, there is an urgent need to put an end to the ever increasing list of
endangered species by undertaking both in situ and ex situ conservation using tools of modern
biology, to ascertain the degree of
genetic variation and reproductive
competence in these
animals. This
review highlights the development and use of molecular markers such as
microsatellites,
minisatellites, mitochondrial control region,
cytochrome b and MHC loci to assess the
genetic variation in various Indian
wild animals such as the
lion,
tiger,
leopard and
deer. The
review also presents data on the
semen profile of the big
cats of
India.
Reproductive technologies such as
cryopreservation of
semen and
artificial insemination in big
cats are also highlighted.