Kids For Tigers

Threats to tigers

2010-06-20T15:26:00.002+05:30

Habitat Destruction

Unfortunately, the forests that are home to the tiger are not very safe these days. People are cutting down trees and putting up big factories. They are dirtying the air and the water.
Tigers need lots of space to roam around. They need to meet other tigers from other forests. But we leave only very tiny jungles for tigers to live in. Tigers, deer and all the other wild animals cannot live in a small, dirty home. Would you like it if someone came with big machines and destroyed your house?
The tiger's home is being threatened throughout the country. Vast forests have been felled for timber or agriculture. Only small fragmented patches remain. As forest space is reduced, the number of animals in the forest dwindle, and tiger can no longer find enough prey to survive. This is when tigers are forced to enter village fields and eat livestock. This is risky as villagers often kill the tiger to protect themselves and their livestock Population Fragmentation is another problem that arises because of habitat destruction. Groups of tigers get separated from each other by human habitation. So tigers in one area can no longer mate with tigers in nearby areas. They are forced to breed with a small group of animals and over time, this inbreeding weakens the gene pool, with tigers being born with birth defects and mutations, which would eventually lead the tiger to extinction.

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Poaching

Of course, only a very few silly people kill animals for fun nowadays, but a there are a lot of cruel people who kill them so that they can sell the dead tigers and make money. They sell tiger skins, bones and claws to people in India and abroad. These evil people are called poachers and they hide in the forests with guns.
People living in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong and other far-eastern countries have started paying people to kill tigers in India so that they can use their bones for medicines which they believe can cure them of all kinds of diseases. More than 200 tigers have been killed recently and this is a cause for great sorrow.
On top of this, many Chief Ministers have started removing protection given to tigers saying that their jungles are being wasted. These people want that the jungles should be torn up and used for cement factories, aluminium mining and other such industrial processes. Then, when the jungles have been ruined, they will say "These are wastelands, so let us dump all our poisons and garbage here." This is all very sad. And the worst part is that if we allow them to do all this then it is you youngsters who will have to pay the highest price. If forests die, the tigers will certainly die. But so will our water supply. This will lead to floods during rains and droughts later. All because some people believe that making money today is more important than saving nature for tomorrow.
Some good forest guards and people who love tigers try to stop the poachers, but it is often very difficult. There are less than 2,000 tigers left in India today and some conservationists believe that poachers are killing one tiger every day!

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Tigers In Captivity
Even the best zoo cannot even come close to the tiger's natural home, the rich, wild forest. If we continue to destroy the tiger's home and only keep specimens in the zoo behind bars and expect the species would survive, we would be the losers. Protecting the tiger's natural habitat is what saves the tiger, not locking it up in unnatural zoos. A tiger does not have any freedom in a zoo; often its cages are dull, cramped, unclean and it may not even have enough food to eat. Some zoos may create large forest-like areas with water pools for tigers, but its never the real thing! The tiger is put on display as if it were an object to look at and laugh or tease. We must tell our zookeepers that we children do not like looking at animals ill and suffering in zoos. Often, animals die because they are treated badly or not given adequate veterinary care. 13 tigers dying in the one of the best-managed zoos in the country, the Nandankanan zoo in Orissa came as a shock to Indian authorities who started questioning whether it was really necessary to have zoos at all.
It's much the same thing with circuses. People used to go to circuses and even take children there because they thought the big cat 'shows' were fun. But their trainers often starve them and use whips to get them to learn a 'trick'. Tigers can be suffocated when they are transported in small crates and cages as the circus travels. Besides whips, tight muzzles, iron rods and electric prods may be used. Luckily, now people have realised that it is cruel to use animals in the circus for our amusement and cruelty can never be amusing. We must promise to never, never go to a circus or a zoo for an outing or a picnic. Let's go on a nature trail instead and watch animals 'live'! There's so much that nature has to offer, that we will never ever be bored!

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Declining Number Of Tigers

2010-05-16T23:31:00.007+05:30

Image source: Wikipedia

Take for example the continued declining numbers of tigers, the largest of the big cats.

The population of tigers is believed to have declined by 95 percent in the last century.

Tigers continue to face challenges imposed by poaching, retributive killings and habitat loss.

Tiger bone is also in high demand for traditional medicines in China and some other parts of the world, often based on mistaken beliefs, or weak evidence for their effectiveness.

Tiger populations have declined over the past century © TigerHomes.org, December 30, 2006

IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, is the world’s oldest environmental organization, working around the world.

Periodically, they produce the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species to highlight species that are extinct or extinct in the wild, critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable.

Their data suggests that theglobal tiger population has declined to an estimated range from 3,402-5,140 tigers, revised down from estimates of 5,000 to 7,000 made a few years earlier. The Bali, Caspian, and Javan tigers are already classified as extinct (in the 1940s, 1970s, and 1980s, respectively).

Noting the above declines, the BBC released a collection of videos on tigers and other species. They also noticed that tigers have disappeared from over 90% of their historic range over the past century. They add that recent estimates suggest less than 1,000 scattered over India and fewer than 40 are left in China.

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Photo Gallery

2010-05-13T19:52:00.001+05:30

Helping Each other.

Living united.

Swimming white tiger

in the greeen.....

Movin acrosss the river!

Trajanian Twins!!

White Hybrid!!

Cute Little Cubs!

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Lets Conserve

2010-05-13T19:38:00.001+05:30

Tiger Conservation

There are very few people who understand the true importance of protecting the tiger. Most people feel it is only a matter of saving an animal that makes a beautiful sight to see. This reason only makes up a fraction of why we need to save this incredible animal. The tiger is at the top of the food chain in the jungles that it roams.

The following is a very basic description of the chaos that would ensue if the tiger became extinct. If this was to happen, the populations of prey species like Spotted deer and Sambhar would burst at the seams. This excessive population would then totally ravage it's food source - vegetation. If the vegetation in the jungles was devastated, where and how would the insects survive. They may even shift to the crops in farmlands. If the plants in the jungles would be finished, what would refurbish the soil. If the soil was no longer fertile, new plants would not sprout. Over the years, this would probably mean the end of the jungles.

The end of jungles also means the end of the biggest suppliers of the oxygen filled air, which we take so much for granted. This is a very simple layman description of what the result of tiger extinction could mean to our own survival. The truly scientific description is even more alarming and drastic.

It isn't necessary for every one of us to take world-awakening steps. All we have to really do is influence those that are a part of our own lives. Obviously, anyone wanting to do more than that is another breath of fresh air for a dying tiger. There are many NGOs and other organisations that are totally dedicated to protecting the tiger. We will try and, as soon as possible, give you a list on this site of such organisations, which you can contact and lend a hand in tiger conservation.

It is important to realise at the outset, if you are intending to help in this line, that protecting the tiger does not necessarily mean working in operations dealing directly with the tiger. It could easily mean working on assignments dealing completely with villages in Park buffer zones, other animal species, welfare of staff working in reserves, villagers, issues dealing with cattle grazing, etc. The one thing that is common with all these assignments is that they are all directly or indirectly aimed at protecting the jungle and it's inhabitants, which obviously includes the tiger.

The main thing that requires a mention here is that if you care for the tiger and want to do something about it - the time is NOW. Act - before it's too late.

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Relation with humans

2010-05-12T13:21:00.001+05:30

Relation with humans

Tiger as prey

Main article: Tiger hunting

Tiger hunting on elephant-back, India, early 19th century.

The tiger has been one of the Big Five game animals of Asia. Tiger hunting took place on a large scale in the early nineteenth and twentieth centuries, being a recognised and admired sport by the British in colonial India as well as the maharajas and aristocratic class of the erstwhile princely states of pre-independence India. Tiger hunting was done by some hunters on foot; others sat up on machans with a goat or buffalo tied out as bait; yet others on elephant-back.In some cases, villagers beating drums were organised to drive the animals into the killing zone. Elaborate instructions were available for the skinning of tigers and there were taxidermists who specialised in the preparation of tiger skins.

Man-eating tigers

Main article: Tiger attack

Stereographic photograph (1903) of a captured man-eating tiger in the Calcutta zoo; the tiger had claimed 200 human victims.

Although humans are not regular prey for tigers, they have killed more people than any other cat, particularly in areas where population growth, logging, and farming have put pressure on tiger habitats. Most man-eating tigers are old and missing teeth, acquiring a taste for humans because of their inability to capture preferred prey^. Almost all tigers that are identified as man-eaters are quickly captured, shot, or poisoned. Unlike man-eating leopards, even established man-eating tigers will seldom enter human settlements, usually remaining at village outskirts.Nevertheless, attacks in human villages do occur.Man-eaters have been a particular problem in India and Bangladesh, especially in Kumaon, Garhwal and the Sundarbans mangrove swamps of Bengal, where some healthy tigers have been known to hunt humans. Because of rapid habitat loss due to climate change, tiger attacks have increased in the Sundarbans.

A female tiger Tatiana escaped from her enclosure in the San Francisco Zoo, killing one person and seriously injuring two more before being shot and killed by the police. The enclosure had walls that were lower than they were legally required to be, allowing the tiger to climb the wall and escape.

Traditional Asian medicine

Many people in China have a belief that various tiger parts have medicinal properties, including as pain killers and aphrodisiacs.There is no scientific evidence to support these beliefs. The use of tiger parts in pharmaceutical drugs in China is already banned, and the government has made some offenses in connection with tiger poaching punishable by death. Furthermore, all trade in tiger parts is illegal under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and a domestic trade ban has been in place in China since 1993. Still, there are a number of tiger farms in the country specialising in breeding the cats for profit. It is estimated that between 5,000 and 10,000 captive-bred, semi-tame animals live in these farms today.

As pets

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums estimates that up to 12,000 tigers are being kept as private pets in the USA, significantly more than the world's entire wild population, 4,000 are believed to be in captivity in Texas alone.^{[citation needed]}

Part of the reason for America's enormous tiger population relates to legislation. Only nineteen states have banned private ownership of tigers, fifteen require only a license, and sixteen states have no regulations at all. http://www.bornfreeusa.org/b4a2_exotic_animals_summary.php

The success of breeding programmes at American zoos and circuses led to an overabundance of cubs in the 1980s and 1990s, which drove down prices for the animals. The SPCA estimate there are now 500 lions, tigers and other big cats in private ownership just in the Houston area.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1983 film Scarface, the protagonist, Tony Montana, aspires to obtaining all the exterior trappings of the American Dream, which in the character's opinion included keeping a pet tiger on his property.

Cultural depictions

19th century painting of a tiger by Kuniyoshi Utagawa.

The tiger replaces the lion as King of the Beasts in cultures of eastern Asia, representing royalty, fearlessness and wrath. Its forehead has a marking which resembles the Chinese character 王, which means "king"; consequently, many cartoon depictions of tigers in China and Korea are drawn with 王 on their forehead.^{[citation needed]}

Of great importance in Chinese myth and culture, the tiger is one of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals. Also in various Chinese art and martial art, the tiger is depicted as an earth symbol and equal rival of the Chinese dragon- the two representing matter and spirit respectively. In fact, the Southern Chinese martial art Hung Ga is based on the movements of the Tiger and the Crane. In Imperial China, a tiger was the personification of war and often represented the highest army general (or present day defense secretary), while the emperor and empress were represented by a dragon and phoenix, respectively. The White Tiger (Chinese: 白虎; pinyin: Bái Hǔ) is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. It is sometimes called the White Tiger of the West (西方白虎), and it represents the west and the autumn season.

In Buddhism, it is also one of the Three Senseless Creatures, symbolising anger, with the monkey representing greed and the deer lovesickness.

Goddess Durga riding a tiger

The Tungusic people considered the Siberian tiger a near-deity and often referred to it as "Grandfather" or "Old man". The Udege and Nanai called it "Amba". The Manchu considered the Siberian tiger as Hu Lin, the king.

The widely worshiped Hindu goddess Durga, an aspect of Devi-Parvati, is a ten-armed warrior who rides the tigress (or lioness) Damon into battle. In southern India the god Ayyappan was associated with a tiger.

The weretiger replaces the werewolf in shapeshifting folklore in Asia; in India they were evil sorcerers while in Indonesia and Malaysia they were somewhat more benign.

The tiger continues to be a subject in literature; both Rudyard Kipling, in The Jungle Book, and William Blake, in Songs of Experience, depict the tiger as a menacing and fearful animal. In The Jungle Book, the tiger, Shere Khan, is the wicked mortal enemy of the protagonist, Mowgli. However, other depictions are more benign: Tigger, the tiger from A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories, is cuddly and likable. In the Man Booker Prize winning novel "Life of Pi," the protagonist, Pi Patel, sole human survivor of a ship wreck in the Pacific Ocean, befriends another survivor: a large Bengal Tiger. The famous comic strip Calvin and Hobbes features Calvin and his stuffed tiger, Hobbes. A tiger is also featured on the cover of the popular cereal Frosted Flakes (also marketed as "Frosties") bearing the name "Tony the Tiger".

The Tiger is the national animal of Bangladesh, Nepal, India (Bengal Tiger Malaysia (Malayan Tiger), North Korea and South Korea (Siberian Tiger).

World's favourite animal

In a poll conducted by Animal Planet, the tiger was voted the world's favourite animal, narrowly beating the dog. More than 50,000 viewers from 73 countries voted in the poll. Tigers received 21% of the vote, dogs 20%, dolphins 13%, horses 10%, lions 9%, snakes 8%, followed by elephants, chimpanzees, orangutans and whales.^[121]^[122]^[123]^[124]

Animal behaviourist Candy d'Sa, who worked with Animal Planet on the list, said: "We can relate to the tiger, as it is fierce and commanding on the outside, but noble and discerning on the inside".

Callum Rankine, international species officer at the World Wildlife Federation conservation charity, said the result gave him hope. "If people are voting tigers as their favourite animal, it means they recognise their importance, and hopefully the need to ensure their survival," he said.

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A Bit About The Species

2010-05-11T19:37:00.001+05:30

Subspecies

A Bengal tigress with her cub.

There are nine recent subspecies of tiger, three of which are extinct. Their historical range (severely diminished today) ran through Bangladesh, Siberia, Iran, Afghanistan, India, China, and southeast Asia, including some Indonesian islands. The surviving subspecies, in descending order of wild population, are:

The Bengal tiger or the Royal Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) is the most common subspecies of tiger and is found primarily in India and Bangladesh. It lives in varied habitats: grasslands, subtropical and tropical rainforests, scrub forests, wet and dry deciduous forests, and mangroves. Males in the wild usually weigh 205 to 227 kg (450 to 500 lb), while the average female will weigh about 141 kg., the northern Indian and the Nepalese Bengal tigers are somewhat bulkier than those found in the south of the Indian Subcontinent, with males averaging around 235 kilograms (520 lb).^[22] While conservationists already believed the population to be below 2,000,^[23] the most recent audit by the Indian Government's National Tiger Conservation Authority has estimated the number at just 1,411 wild tigers (1165–1657 allowing for statistical error), a drop of 60% in the past decade.^[24] Since 1972, there has been a massive wildlife conservation project, known as Project Tiger, to protect the Bengal tiger. Despite increased efforts by Indian officials, poaching remains rampant and at least one Tiger Reserve (Sariska Tiger Reserve) has lost its entire tiger population to poaching.

Indochinese tiger

The Indochinese Tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti), also called Corbett's tiger, is found in Cambodia, China, Laos, Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam. These tigers are smaller and darker than Bengal tigers: Males weigh from 150–190 kg (330–420 lb) while females are smaller at 110–140 kg (240–310 lb). Their preferred habitat is forests in mountainous or hilly regions. Estimates of the Indochinese tiger population vary between 1,200 to 1,800, with only several hundred left in the wild. All existing populations are at extreme risk from poaching, prey depletion as a result of poaching of primary prey species such as deer and wild pigs, habitat fragmentation and inbreeding. In Vietnam, almost three-quarters of the tigers killed provide stock for Chinese pharmacies.

Malayan tiger

The Malayan Tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni), exclusively found in the southern part of the Malay Peninsula, was not considered a subspecies in its own right until 2004. The new classification came about after a study by Luo et al. from the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity Study, part of the National Cancer Institute of the United States. Recent counts showed there are 600–800 tigers in the wild, making it the third largest tiger population, behind the Bengal tiger and the Indochinese tiger. The Malayan tiger is the smallest of the mainland tiger subspecies, and the second smallest living subspecies, with males averaging about 120 kg and females about 100 kg in weight. The Malayan tiger is a national icon in Malaysia, appearing on its coat of arms and in logos of Malaysian institutions, such as Maybank.

Sumatran tiger

The Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and is critically endangered. It is the smallest of all living tiger subspecies, with adult males weighing between 100–140 kg (220–310 lb) and females 75–110 kg (170–240 lb). Their small size is an adaptation to the thick, dense forests of the island of Sumatra where they reside, as well as the smaller-sized prey. The wild population is estimated at between 400 and 500, seen chiefly in the island's national parks. Recent genetic testing has revealed the presence of unique genetic markers, indicating that it may develop into a separate species,^[specify] if it does not go extinct. This has led to suggestions that Sumatran tigers should have greater priority for conservation than any other subspecies. While habitat destruction is the main threat to existing tiger population (logging continues even in the supposedly protected national parks), 66 tigers were recorded as being shot and killed between 1998 and 2000, or nearly 20% of the total population.

Siberian tiger

The Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), also known as the Amur, Manchurian, Altaic, Korean or North China tiger, is confined to the Amur-Ussuri region of Primorsky Krai and Khabarovsk Krai in far eastern Siberia, where it is now protected. Considered the largest subspecies, it had a head and body length of 160–180 cm for females and 190–230+ cm for males, plus a tail of about 60–110 cm long (about 270–330 cm in total length) and an average weight of around 227 kilograms (500 lb) for males, the Amur tiger is also noted for its thick coat, distinguished by a paler golden hue and fewer stripes. The heaviest wild Siberian tiger on record weighed in at 384 kg, but according to Mazak these giants are not confirmed via reliable references.Even so, a six-month old Siberian tiger can be as big as a fully grown leopard. The last two censuses (1996 and 2005) found 450–500 Amur tigers within their single, and more or less continuous, range making it one of the largest undivided tiger populations in the world. Genetic research in 2009 demonstrated that the Siberian tiger, and the western "Caspian tiger" (once thought to have been a separate subspecies that became extinct in the wild in the late 1950s) are actually the same subspecies, since the separation of the two populations may have occurred as recently as the past century due to human intervention.

South China tiger

The South China Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis), also known as the Amoy or Xiamen tiger, is the most critically endangered subspecies of tiger and is listed as one of the 10 most endangered animals in the world.One of the smaller tiger subspecies, the length of the South China tiger ranges from 2.2–2.6 m (87–100 in) for both males and females. Males weigh between 127 and 177 kg (280 and 390 lb) while females weigh between 100 and 118 kg (220 and 260 lb). From 1983 to 2007, no South China tigers were sighted. In 2007 a farmer spotted a tiger and handed in photographs to the authorities as proof.The photographs in question, however, were later exposed as fake, copied from a Chinese calendar and photoshopped, and the “sighting” turned into a massive scandal.

In 1977, the Chinese government passed a law banning the killing of wild tigers, but this may have been too late to save the subspecies, since it is possibly already extinct in the wild. There are currently 59 known captive South China tigers, all within China, but these are known to be descended from only six animals. Thus, the genetic diversity required to maintain the subspecies may no longer exist. Currently, there are breeding efforts to reintroduce these tigers to the wild.

Extinct subspecies

A hunted down Balinese tiger

The Bali Tiger (Panthera tigris balica) was limited to the island of Bali. They were the smallest of all tiger subspecies, with a weight of 90–100 kg in males and 65–80 kg in females.These tigers were hunted to extinction—the last Balinese tiger is thought to have been killed at Sumbar Kima, West Bali on 27 September 1937; this was an adult female. No Balinese tiger was ever held in captivity. The tiger still plays an important role in Balinese Hinduism.

A photograph of a Javan tiger.

The Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) was limited to the Indonesian island of Java. It now seems likely that this subspecies became extinct in the 1980s, as a result of hunting and habitat destruction, but the extinction of this subspecies was extremely probable from the 1950s onwards (when it is thought that fewer than 25 tigers remained in the wild). The last confirmed specimen was sighted in 1979, but there were a few reported sightings during the 1990s. With a weight of 100–141 kg for males and 75–115 kg for females, the Javan tiger was one of the smaller subspecies, approximately the same size as the Sumatran tiger.^{[citation needed]}

A captive Caspian Tiger, Berlin Zoo 1899

Caspian Tiger (formerly Panthera tigris virgata), also known as the Persian tiger or Turanian tiger was the westernmost population of Siberian tiger, found in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, the Caucasus, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan until it apparently became extinct in the late 1950s, though there have been several alleged more recent sightings of the tiger. Though originally thought to have been a distinct subspecies, genetic research in 2009 suggest that the animal was largely identical to the Siberian tiger.

Hybrids

Further information: Panthera hybrid, Liger and Tiglon

Hybridisation among the big cats, including the tiger, was first conceptualised in the 19th century, when zoos were particularly interested in the pursuit of finding oddities to display for financial gain. Lions have been known to breed with tigers (most often the Amur and Bengal subspecies) to create hybrids called ligers and tigons. Such hybrids were once commonly bred in zoos, but this is now discouraged due to the emphasis on conserving species and subspecies. Hybrids are still bred in private menageries and in zoos in China.

The liger is a cross between a male lion and a tigress. Because the lion sire passes on a growth-promoting gene, but the corresponding growth-inhibiting gene from the female tiger is absent, ligers grow far larger than either parent. They share physical and behavioural qualities of both parent species (spots and stripes on a sandy background). Male ligers are sterile, but female ligers are often fertile. Males have about a 50% chance of having a mane, but, even if they do, their manes will be only around half the size of that of a pure lion. Ligers are typically between 10 to 12 feet in length, and can be between 800 and 1,000 pounds or more.

The less common tigon is a cross between the lioness and the male tiger.

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Fact File-Indian Reserves

2010-05-10T16:09:00.001+05:30

THE FOLLOWING STATS CLEARLY REPRESENT THE WORKS OF 'KFT' AND 'PROJECT TIGER'..

Bandipur	Karnataka	866
	Nagarhole (extension)	642
Corbett	Uttaranchal	1316
Kanha	Madhya Pradesh	1945
Manas	Assam	2840
Melghat	Maharashtra	1677
Palamau	Jharkhand	1026
Ranthambhore	Rajasthan	1334
Similipal	Orissa	2750
Sunderbans	West Bengal	2585
Periyar	Kerala	777
Sariska	Rajasthan	866
Buxa	West Bengal	759
Indravati	Chattisgarh	2799
Nagarjunsagar	Andhra Pradesh	3568
Namdapha	Arunachal Pradesh	1985
Dudhwa	Uttar Pradesh	811
	Katerniaghat-(extension)	551
Kalakad-Mundanthurai	Tamil Nadu	800
Valmiki	Bihar	840
Pench	Madhya Pradesh	758
Tadoba-Andhari	Maharashtra	620
Bandhavgarh	Madhya Pradesh	1162
Panna	Madhya Pradesh	542
Dampha	Mizoram	500
Bhadra	Karnataka	492
Pench	Maharashtra	257
Pakhui-Nameri	Arunachal Pradesh-Assam	1206
Bori, Satpura, Pachmari	Madhya Pradesh	1486
		37761

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About the Creature

2010-05-09T14:10:00.002+05:30

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TIGER
The tiger (Panthera tigris) is a member of the Felidae family and the largest and possibly most dangerous of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera.Native to much of eastern and southern Asia, the tiger is an apex predator and an obligate carnivore. Reaching up to 3.3 metres (11 ft) in total length, weighing up to 300 kilograms (660 pounds), and having canines up to 4 inches long, the larger tiger subspecies are comparable in size to the biggest extinct felids. Aside from their great bulk and power, their most recognisable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes that overlays near-white to reddish-orange fur, with lighter underparts. The most numerous tiger subspecies is the Bengal tiger while the largest subspecies is the Siberian tiger.
Highly adaptable, tigers range from the Siberian taiga, to open grasslands, to tropical mangrove swamps. They are territorial and generally solitary animals, often requiring large contiguous areas of habitat that support their prey demands. This, coupled with the fact that they are indigenous to some of the more densely populated places on earth, has caused significant conflicts with humans. Of the nine subspecies of modern tiger, three are extinct and the remaining six are classified as endangered, some critically so. The primary direct causes are habitat destruction and fragmentation, and hunting. Their historical range once stretched from Mesopotamia and the Caucasus through most of South and East Asia. Today it has been radically reduced. While all surviving species are under formal protection, poaching, habitat destruction and inbreeding depression continue to threaten the species.
Tigers are among the most recognisable and popular of the world's charismatic megafauna. They have featured prominently in ancient mythology and folklore, and continue to be depicted in modern films and literature. Tigers appear on many flags and coats of arms, as mascots for sporting teams, and as the national animal of several Asian nations, including India.
The word "tiger" is taken from the Greek word "tigris", which is possibly derived from a Persian source meaning "arrow", a reference to the animal's speed and also the origin for the name of the Tigris river. In American English, "Tigress" was first recorded in 1611. It was one of the many species originally described, as Felis tigris, by Linnaeus in his 18th century work, Systema Naturae.The generic component of its scientific designation, Panthera tigris, is often presumed to derive from Greek pan- ("all") and theron ("beast"), but this may be a folk etymology. Although it came into English through the classical languages, panthera is probably of East Asian origin, meaning "the yellowish animal", or "whitish-yellow".
A group of tigersis rare (see below), but when seen together is termed a "streak" or an "ambush".

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Kids For Tiger.. SAVING THE STRIPES

2010-05-08T19:33:00.001+05:30

Hi everyone.

My name is Sid.I'm a student studying in Hilton's school ,Dehradun.

I am starting this blog to make the people of the whole world understand the importance of tigers in the ecosystem.....

This is the first update of my blog.

TIGER-SOME SMALL EFFORTS

Poaching for fur and destruction of habitat have greatly reduced tiger populations in the wild. At the start of the 20th century, it is estimated there were over 100,000 tigers in the world but the population has dwindled to about 2,000 in the wild. Some estimates suggest the population is even lower, with some at less than 2,500 mature breeding individuals, with no subpopulation containing more than 250 mature breeding individuals.

India

India is home to the world's largest population of tigers in the wild. According to the World Wildlife Fund, of the 3,500 tigers around the world, 1,400 are found in India. A major concerted conservation effort, known as Project Tiger, has been underway since 1973, which was initially spearheaded by Indira Gandhi. The fundamental accomplishment has been the establishment of over 25 well-monitored tiger reserves in reclaimed land where human development is categorically forbidden. The program has been credited with tripling the number of wild Bengal tigers from roughly 1,200 in 1973 to over 3,500 in the 1990s. However, a tiger census carried out in 2007, whose report was published on February 12, 2008, stated that the wild tiger population in India declined by 60% to approximately 1,411.It is noted in the report that the decrease of tiger population can be attributed directly to poaching.

Following the release of the report, the Indian government pledged $153 million to further fund the Project Tiger initiative, set-up a Tiger Protection Force to combat poachers, and fund the relocation of up to 200,000 villagers to minimise human-tiger interaction. Additionally, eight new tiger reserves in India are being set up.Indian officials successfully started a project to reintroduce the tigers into the Sariska Tiger Reserve. The Ranthambore National Park is often cited as a major success by Indian officials against poaching.

Russia

Tiger headcount in 1990

The Siberian tiger was on the brink of extinction with only about 40 animals in the wild in the 1940s. Under the Soviet Union, anti-poaching controls were strict and a network of protected zones (zapovedniks) were instituted, leading to a rise in the population to several hundred. Poaching again became a problem in the 1990s, when the economy of Russia collapsed, local hunters had access to a formerly sealed off lucrative Chinese market, and logging in the region increased. While an improvement in the local economy has led to greater resources being invested in conservation efforts, an increase of economic activity has led to an increased rate of development and deforestation. The major obstacle in preserving the species is the enormous territory individual tigers require (up to 450 km² needed by a single female).Current conservation efforts are led by local governments and NGO's in consort with international organisations, such as the World Wide Fund and the Wildlife Conservation Society.The competitive exclusion of wolves by tigers has been used by Russian conservationists to convince hunters in the Far East to tolerate the big cats, as they limit ungulate populations less than wolves, and are effective in controlling the latter's numbers.Currently, there are about 400-550 animals in the wild.

Tibet

In Tibet, tiger and leopard pelts have traditionally been used in various ceremonies and costumes. In January 2006 the Dalai Lama preached a ruling against using, selling, or buying wild animals, their products, or derivatives. It has yet to be seen whether this will result in a long-term slump in the demand for poached tiger and leopard skins.

Rewilding

A Bengal tiger in a national park in southern India.

The first attempt at rewilding was by Indian conservationist Billy Arjan Singh, who reared a zoo-born tigress named Tara, and released her in the wilds ofDudhwa National Park in 1978. This was soon followed by a large number of people being eaten by a tigress who was later shot. Government officials claim that this tigress was Tara, an assertion hotly contested by Singh and conservationists. Later on, this rewilding gained further disrepute when it was found that the local gene pool had been sullied by Tara's introduction as she was partly Siberian tiger, a fact not known at the time of release, ostensibly due to poor record-keeping at Twycross Zoo, where she had been raised.

Save China's Tigers

Main article: Save China's Tigers

The organisation Save China's Tigers, working with the Wildlife Research Centre of the State Forestry Administration of China and the Chinese Tigers South Africa Trust, secured an agreement on the reintroduction of Chinese tigers into the wild. The agreement, which was signed in Beijing on 26 November 2002, calls for the establishment of a Chinese tiger conservation model through the creation of a pilot reserve in China where indigenous wildlife, including the South China Tiger, will be reintroduced. Save China's Tigers aims to rewild the critically endangered South China Tiger by bringing a few captive-bred individuals to South Africa for rehabilitation training for them to regain their hunting instincts. At the same time, a pilot reserve in China is being set-up and the Tigers will be relocated and release back in China when the reserve in China is ready. The offspring of the trained tigers will be released into the pilot reserves in China, while the original animals will stay in South Africa to continue breeding.

The reason South Africa was chosen is because it is able to provide expertise and resources, land and game for the South China tigers. The South China Tigers of the project has since been successfully rewilded and are fully capable of hunting and surviving on their own. This project is also very successful in the breeding of these rewilded South China Tigers and 5 cubs have been born in the project, these cubs of the 2nd generation would be able to learn their survival skills from their successfully rewilded mothers directly.

It is hoped that in 2010, the Chinese year of the Tiger, the first batch of rewilded South China Tigers can be sent back to China from South Africa, and be released into the wild.

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