Director of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) Dr B V Mathur while turning down the state forest department proposal for shifting of a semi-adult tiger from Ranthambore to Sariska had emphasized that "to build up population of tigers to a sustainable level, it would be worth to translocate an adult male that is genetically distinct from the Sariska population instead of the sub adult as this age class is already represented in Sariska." He said it is important that genetic configuration of tiger should be given priority for future translocation. Mehrotra strongly opposed the WII stand that Indian tigers have five distinctly featured population groups in the Indian sub-continent. Their interbreeding has not been recorded so far. No comparative homogeneity or divergence of these population groups has been examined at the genetic level. In the absence of any detailed genomic studies of each of these geographically separated groups, it is not possible to evolve a robust conservation strategy for future of these separated populations.

He says "These population groups though protected in their reserves are being day by day localized due to fissuring of their landscapes by roads and mining, etc. In the light of the above referred experiments it would be necessary that unless genetic similarities between tigers of the different regions are determined no interbreeding should be allowed through exchange of animals from one area to another."

He advocated that it would be in the right earnest that the ministry should allow the state department of forests of Rajasthan to translocate two adult male tigers from Ranthambore, that has a sizeable population of male tigers, to Sariska. Sariska currently has a skewed male-female ratio of 2:11. The Central government may also start a programme of genome mapping of the Indian tigers without further loss of precious time.

However, Sunayan Sharma, founder vice president of Sariska Tiger Foundation, found merit in what WII suggested. He said there is some merit in WII argument. All the tigers in Sariska were shifted from Ranthambore. So instead of Ranthambore, a tiger from, for example, Panna Tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh, which is not genetically distinct but different from Sariska, would add to the genetic pool which would help in the sustainability of the tiger population. However, he said inbreeding of an entirely different gene pool like the Sunderbans would be dangerous.