Only 5 years left.
Did you know that Tigers without intervention will go extinct within our lifetime. It's so bad that your my grandchildren may never even know what one is. They will think of tigers as some mythical creature like we do unicorns. on a side note: Did unicorns ever exist? Scientist estimate wild Tigers may be gone within the next 5 years.
The Tiger is the largest cat in the world. They can grow up to 720lbs,(The smallest tigers are about 240lbs. on average they can grow to 500lbs easy) are about 6ft long and have a 3ft tail. Some however can grow to 8 or 9 ft and still have a 4 foot long tail. The Tigers that live in colder areas tend to be bigger. Unlike lions and other wild cats the Tiger is a lone hunter, that predominantly hunts at night. There night vision is about 6 times greater than a humans. They are known to be the top of the food chain with canines that can grow to 3 inches long and can bite through any vertebrae on the planet. Tigers have been known to eat up 60lbs of meat per day but generally eats about 12lbs in one setting. Try to think of that the next time you see an eating contest. Something i think that is really cool is they cover their food with leaves when their done and save it for later, kind of like humans with Tupperware.Tigers generally live alone, as i previously stated. The only exception is mothers and their young. Females tigers can have up to 6 cubs in a litter but usually only have 2 or 3. The female tiger will raise her cubs on her own. At about 6 months the cubs will leave the den permanently and begin to learn to hunt, following their mother and learning from her skills. By the time their 1 they can kill prey on their own but will stay with their mother until their at least 2. Unfortunately though most tigers don't reach 3 now, there fatality rates have skyrocketed.
Another interesting fact: did you know tigers are the most water loving cat, according to some sources, tigers that live in hot areas can spend more than half their waking time in water. Tigers live anywhere for tropical climates to very cold climates but are never found far from water. Some tigers however live in very cold areas such as certain parts of India and southeast Asia.
Random Fact: White tigers are NOT Albino. They are actually believed to have descended from a single white bangle male known as Mohan.
Another Random fact i want to just stick in: A Tigers roar can be heard as far as 2 miles away. And weirdly enough, we know they do not purr.Also did you know kind of like fingerprints no two tigers have the same stripes and their stripes are on their skin as well as their fur. There are 5 sub-species of Tiger: the Bangle, South China, Indochinese, Sumatran and Siberian. There used to be 8 subspecies of Tiger but the Caspian, Bali and Javan are extinct. The Bali Tiger became extinct in the 1940's. The Caspian tiger became extinct in the 1970s. Finally the Javan Tiger became extinct in the 1980s. One by one they are slowly leaving us. The South China sub specie of tiger looks like it will be the next to be extinct with about 60 left in captivity and an estimation of 20 left in the wild. In 1959 the South China was deemed a pest and so from then on has been hunted. In 1959 there were estimated 4000 South China Tigers in the wild. That should give you a pretty clear idea on human affect. And most Tiger activist have given up on this sub specie all together. After that it is expected to be the Siberian tiger with estimated amounts left in the world between 230 and 400. After that will be the Sumatran with 500-1000 left in existence. And After that will be the Indochinese with 1000-1500 left in existence and the largest species of tigers left is the Bangle Tiger with an estimated 3000 left in the world, however they are diminishing quickly with a kill rate of one per day. Think about those numbers then think about the fact their is 6.8 billion people. The highest estimated amount of tigers left in the world is 5,980. Really, Really think about that, please, for the sake of them.
Above is the Bangle Tiger.
Above is The Extinct Bali Tiger.
To the Left is the extinct Caspian Tiger and below is a picture of the nearly extinct South China Tiger.
To the Left is an image of the extinct Javan Tiger and below is a picture of the Sumatran Tiger
Above is a picture of the infamous Siberian Tiger
Lastly to the right we have the Indochinese Tiger.
The thing that i really want to inform you of though is that these beautiful, majestic and sweet cats are in grave danger, facing extinction. They are facing extinction mainly due to poaching, for their fur and body parts. Their body parts are sometimes used in Chinese medicine, although there is NOT a shred of evidence to prove they work. Their parts are also used for trophies and aids to ward off evil spirits. Along with that their habitats are getting smaller and smaller thanks to logging and development. Their prey is also becoming fewer and fewer with humans hunting the Tigers food as well. And sadly, although being awarded protection as an endangered specie in 1959 the Siberian tigers numbers keep diminishing.
From 1960 to 1984 3000 tiger pelts were counted and sold.
Some of the reason for their extinction is because tigers are seen as deadly and dangerous. There is only one area of India where tigers are known to eat humans. The instances are still very rare and well when you move into a predators hunting ground what did you expect? think of surfers and surfing, you know the possibility when you invade a bigger predators habitat. Personally i don't blame the tigers. Villagers however have learned to deter attacks by wearing masks on the back of their heads, so tigers think there looking. Tigers like being sneaky and attacking from behind.
Progress for Tigers is being made though. A major example would be that China who once saw the tiger as a pest is now completely devoted to saving them. Asia has made Tiger farms illegal, so that tigers cannot be raised and killed for their coats and body parts. It still happens, but is much less frequent.Even though much progress has been made, there still is a market for tigers parts. The countries where this occurs the most is Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea. Tiger powders and potions are also available for sale in the UK, USA and and Europe. In Australia alone there are believed to be 120 outlets that sell such items.
Sadly there are more tigers living in captivity then in the wild. At least we know a few will survive like this but this depresses me. They were meant to be wild and live free. Some tigers will have territories in the wild up to 100 miles in diameter. Find me a habitat that big. Tigers are losing more everyday, they lose their lives, there freedom and everything that once defined them. At the beginning of the 20 century there were believed to be 100,000 wild tigers in existence, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO HUMANITY????!!!!??!?!? Why can't the people who are lucky enough to have these majestic creatures living wild and free among them, live peacefully with them??!?!?! At least in the USA we do something. We may not be privileged to have them live freely among us but we do try to keep them alive by keeping them in captivity. The US have twice as many tigers in captivity than the amount left in the wild.
If you want to help here is a site that lists organizations that will take donations and are trying to help save these majestic creatures. http://forevertigers.com/organizations.htm
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14 comments:
I really didnt know that more tigers are in captivity then the wild- what a sad legacy.
I would never buy anything that came from a real tiger. I think if people stopped buying and were educated, the need to kill tigers would stop. People are crazy - but culture has so much to do with that.
I almost wanted to cry reading and looking at the pictures showing about what happened to the tigers!
My Name is Alvin Gamble I am a Grade 11 Student in Canada. I wanted to make a presentation on Siberian Tigers and found this site, I was heart broken at what i seen and read it's the horrible truth, I don't want to make this a presentation anymore, instead i am making this my job to give awareness about tigers, and even more Animals out there becoming extinct.
wow, im very suprised... i wish i can help save these tigers before its to late, but dun wrry il do summin before those 5 years ends and takes thier lives away. Humans can be selfish at times, u need to remind them that they have a heart.
Wow...reading this and seeing the pictures made me cry. I knew we were on the brink of loosing them but that that we were that close. Thank you for posting this and telling it the way it is, horrible as it may be, and for spreading awareness of their need for help.
Sometimes I hate humans. Nature seems so lost with us around. We're killers of the worst sort and don't try to tell me different. Everything humans touch they destroy. And rightly, as said in this article, if you invade a predator's home, don't expect to get away without being attacked - perdators also defend with all their strenght and intelligence. So i guess humanity's response to this was to kill them - then there'll be no predator's territory to invade or tresspass. Wow. I'm so ashamed to be a human.
I cant believe how sad this is people should listen to the rule of no tiger hunting its cruel. I hope that we can save species of tigers that are becoming extinct before we do loose them forever. Tigers are my favorite animals and its would be horrible to grow up and know there not around anymore.
WOW! What an amazing article! It amazed, and horrified me, at the way the dead tigers are mauled!
Good on u Alvin!!!!
Thanks for sharing the knowledge on the current status of Tigers in the world. After reading the article I felt very sad. But there is hope and I know that we can save the tigers before time runs out of hand.
I really like your post & i try my best for put some efforts to expand the news from your websites...
Thank you dear...
Well this is the second Comment i've added here so far. Well the efforts of myself, Animal rights activists and Extremists to save soon to be extinct Animals like these Tigers, have been usless, Most the public and government have looked the other way concerning Species besides the human race, seems the faster we continue to multiply and populate all areas of the earth we take away the home's of these animals... so i'm afraid to say we've failed to save soon to be extinct species. myself and many others will continue to protect these animals as much as we can, even if it means giving our lives, the human race has over-populated the earth anyways, might as well give what they don't have, a choice. I hope you all remember that these animals are spirits like us and deserve better.
My name is cody im only 13 years of age turning 14 that is. My favorite animal is the tiger. I am wanting to make a campaign but because of my age it's like really limited this isn't right what they are doing to these animals, i want to help, but where to start is the question. please help me email me on codyjane_1996@hotmail.com
Where can i get one!!!???
thats really sad when i saw the pics i got really ticked of at poachers and the stupid not working chinese med someone should slap some sense into these voodoo people
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