Fostering a Culture of Excellence
Roar of Survival: Dr Wan Nor Fitri journey to save the tigers with cloning
By Sim Wie Boon
A tiger cub with its mother (Photo: iStock)
As Malaysia’s tigers vanish, Dr Wan Nor Fitri hopes to harness cloning to rewrite conservation’s future—one stem cell at a time
The Malayan Tiger stands as one of Malaysia’s most powerful national symbols—proudly displayed on the country’s coat of arms, featured in the logos of national institutions like Proton and Maybank, and woven deeply into the cultural fabric of the
nation.
Yet despite its prominence on emblems and in the national consciousness, this majestic predator faces a devastating reality: fewer than 150 remain in the wild. This stark contradiction—a national icon celebrated everywhere yet disappearing from its natural habitat—represents one of the most urgent conservation crises in Southeast Asia. The animal that has long symbolised strength and sovereignty for Malaysia now desperately needs the nation’s protection to survive.
Dr Wan Nor Fitri Wan Jaafar, senior lecturer at Universiti Putra Malaysia’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (Photo: Merdeka Awards)
For Dr Wan Nor Fitri Wan Jaafar, a visionary senior lecturer at Universiti Putra Malaysia’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, the race to save the tiger—and other endangered species—has led him down a path once confined to science fiction: cloning.
Fitri’s journey began not with tigers, but with crocodiles. As a final-year veterinary student, he chose an unconventional path, studying reptile reproduction. “I wanted something different, something fun,” he recalls. His childhood love for nature, forged during jungle treks, evolved into a mission during PhD research on deer populations. “The Sambar deer’s plight was worse than the tiger’s,” he notes, highlighting the domino effect of ecosystem collapse.
Tragedy struck close when Malaysia’s last Sumatran Rhino died in 2019. Fitri’s mentor, Dr Zainal Zahari Zainuddin, witnessed this extinction firsthand—a loss that haunts the conservation community. “It was too late for the rhino. We cannot repeat that mistake,” Wan asserts.
So he looked at cloning, something often deemed controversial, but he considered it to be the pinnacle of Assisted Reproductive Technology. During a transformative three-month fellowship at Cornell University, thanks to his receiving a grant
from the Merdeka Awards when he was recognised for Outstanding Contribution to Environment and Planetary Health in 2021, Fitri collaborated with Professor Soon Hong Cheong’s team to clone hundreds of blastocysts and Twilight, the first horse with a fully sequenced genome. This breakthrough proved that cloning could transcend cinematic fantasy.
A fused cloned embryo (Photo: Dr Wan Fitri)
“Cloning requires pristine stem cells and a surrogate,” Fitri explains. For tigers, this might involve using closely related species, like African cats, as surrogates. While 95 per cent of the offspring’s DNA would be tiger, mitochondrial DNA from the surrogate introduces complexities. Yet, the potential is undeniable: preserved genetic material could one day “resurrect” species, offering a lifeline against extinction.
“That’s why we are seeing a lot of efforts in capturing tigers and putting them in reserves and rescue or rewilding centres. So that’s the idea, where we can breed them again in captivity, and once we have the number, we can introduce it to its natural places,” Fitri adds. But he warns that reintroducing tigers is not as easy as it seems as he cites the ongoing effort in reintroducing certain deers and seladang (gaur), but it’s been challenging as most of them die due to starvation for being unfamiliar with the wild. “It is not easy to release these animals after being kept in captivity for so long,” Fitri notes.
A cloned blastocyst (Photo: Dr Wan Fitri)
Critics also argue that cloning disrupts natural processes, but Fitri counters with urgency. “If we do nothing, we violate animal welfare principles. Suffering demands intervention.” He cites the cloned black-footed ferret, a success story in restoring populations. However, challenges persist—hormonal resistance in induced ovulation, habitat loss, and bureaucratic inertia.
Malaysia’s recent declaration of a “tiger emergency” has yet to spur drastic action. “We need aggressive policies and funding,” Fitri stresses. “Without it, we’ll mirror the Sumatran rhino’s fate,” Fitri says, adding that for animals, the needs and wants are simple. “They don’t need a nice car, clothing, or house; they just need to eat and have space and room around. But if these basic biological needs are not met, then it’s a disaster,” he quips.
Fitri’s message to emerging scientists is clear: “Don’t give up. This work is hard, but it’s our heritage.” He reflects on Zainal’s apology for the rhino’s extinction—a sombre reminder of duty. “If Malaysians don’t act, we fail not just animals, but ourselves.” For him, the question isn’t whether we can clone a tiger—it’s whether we can redefine our relationship with nature before the last roar falls silent.
