For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had an admiration for animals. Whether it was domesticated animals such as cats and dogs, or fierce predators like lions or sharks, it didn’t matter. I loved them all the same. However, there has always been on animal in particular that I have always been drawn to: the tiger.
Tigers have been described by many as
being one of the most admired, beautiful and often times frightening animals in
the world. In fact, they’re so admired that throughout history, they have
played a huge role in different religions, cultures, and folklore in places
like India, China, and Japan, just to name a few.
There are nine different types of tigers.
They include the Bengal tiger, Indochinese tiger, Malayan tiger, Siberian or
Amur tiger, South China tiger, Sumatran tiger, Bali tiger, Caspian tiger, and
the Javan tiger. Unfortunately, out of those nine, the Bali, Caspian and Javan
tigers have all gone extinct within the last 80 years.
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| The nine existing tiger species |
The main threats that tigers face are
habitat loss, poaching, and human invasion. Because of these factors, the tiger
population all over the world has decreased dramatically. In the 1900s, there were about 100,000 tigers
in the wild. By the 1970s there were less than 4,000 and today it is estimated
to be only about 3,000.
Probably the biggest reason why the tiger
population is in the state that it is in is because of habitat loss. When
tigers lose basic necessities that they need to survive, such as food, water,
and vegetation to conceal themselves, their chance of survival diminishes. As
the human population grows, areas of jungle and forests are destroyed to create
cities, towns, roads, and farmland. When this happens, it creates what I can
only describe as a domino effect. The humans come in, the tiger’s prey leaves,
so the tigers resort to hunting humans instead. Other direct effects of this
habitat loss is less territory as well as inbreeding. Because they are forced
to breed with members of their immediate family, the tigers are less able to
produce offspring that are able to fight off disease and illness.
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| The impact the human presence has on tigers |
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| The result of tiger inbreeding |
While
the tiger population is now extremely low and has been put in the “critically
endangered” category, there are many things being done to save and increase the
tiger population Some examples are monitoring tigers and their prey, enacting
wildlife conservations and reserves in various countries, and working to stop
the tiger trade.
“ Saving tigers is simple. ”said Dr.
Barney Long. ”All they need is enough prey, space and protection. The difficult
part is securing unswerving long-term commitment from the world to save the
species.”
www.tigersincrisis.org
www.tigers.org
www.tigerhaven.com
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