Tigers are the largest cat in the world. Their scientific name is Panthera tigris (Panthera, 2020). They are found in Vietnam, Thailand, Russia, Nepal, Myanmar, Malaysia, Laos, Indonesia, India, China, Cambodia, Bhutan, and Bangladesh (GTF, 2020). The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List has labeled tigers as a species as endangered with a decreasing population (IUCN, 2020). The estimated tiger population in the wild is between 2,154 and 3,159 tigers (IUCN, 2020). Tiger habitat has decreased by 96% of their historic range, with much of this decline occurring within the last decade (Panthera, 2020).
Tigers have a false eye on the back of their ears, also called ocellus (SDZG, 2020). Tigers not only have striped fur but they also have striped skin (SDZG, 2020)! They have partially webbed toes which helps make them powerful swimmers, and they can swim up to 5 miles (SDZG, 2020). Females can give birth up to seven cubs but usually only give birth to 2 to 3 cubs every two years (SDZG, 2020). Tigers can jump 33 feet in one leap (SDZG, 2020). Their roar can be heard up to two miles away (SDZG, 2020). Tigers can weigh between 165 and 716 pounds (SDZG, 2020).
Tigers are carnivores, meaning they eat meat. They can stalk their prey for 20 to 30 minutes before they pounce on them and use their teeth and powerful jaws to grab their prey by the neck and suffocate it (SDZG, 2020). They can eat about 88 pounds of food in one sitting and kill about once a week (SDZG, 2020; SWT, 2020). As apex predators they help shape the ecosystem they live in and provide food for other animals trickling down the food chain (SWT, 2020). Because they eat herbivores, animals that eat plants, they help reduce overgrazing (SWT, 2020). Tigers are also considered to be an umbrella species, meaning by protecting them and their habitat we are in turn protecting hundreds of other plant and animal species and maintaining forests and water areas that help mitigate climate change (SWT, 2020).
Like humans, tigers have binocular vision that helps their depth perception to judge distances (WWF, 2020). Tigers can see six times better than humans, which helps when they hunt their prey in low light (SDZG, 2020). You can download the app WWF Together and visit the tiger page where you can see like a tiger! You can see the difference between human and tiger eyesight through their virtual image or by using your camera and looking around your own surroundings. You can learn more about the WWF Together App download it.
There are six extant subspecies of tigers and three extinct subspecies of tigers. The six living tiger subspecies are the amur tiger, bengal tiger, indochinese tiger, malayan tiger, south china tiger, and the sumatran tiger. The three extinct tiger subspecies are the javan tiger which went extinct in 1976, the bali tiger which went extinct in the 1930s, and the caspian or turan tiger which went extinct in 1970 (SDZG, 2020).
The Amur tiger, or Siberian tiger, is labeled by the IUCN Red List as endangered with a stable population, however the data was collected in 2010 so it is ten years out of date (IUCN, 2020). This subspecies is the largest cat in the world. They have the lightest coat with theirs being a pale orange coat with fewer stripes to help them blend into their habitat (SDZG, 2020). They roam in eastern Russia and northeast China (SDZG, 2020).
The Bengal tiger, or Indian tiger, is listed by the IUCN Red List as endangered with a decreasing population, however the data was collected in 2010 so it is ten years out of date (IUCN, 2020). This tiger is the most common tiger subspecies (SDZG, 2020). They roam India, Nepal, Pakistan.
The Indochinese tiger is listed by the IUCN Red List as endangered with a decreasing population, however the data was collected in 2010 so it is ten years out of date (IUCN, 2020). This subspecies is darker in color than the bengal tiger (SDZG, 2020). They roam throughout southeast Asia.
The Malayan tiger is listed by the IUCN Red List as critically endangered with a decreasing population, however the data was collected in 2014 so it is six years out of date (IUCN, 2020). This tiger roams throughout Malaysia.
The South China tiger is listed by the IUCN Red List as critically endangered with an unknown population, however the data was collected in 2008 so it is twelve years out of date (IUCN, 2020). This subspecies is believed to be extinct in the wild, although no official reports have been made.
The Sumatran tiger is listed by the IUCN Red List as critically endangered with a decreasing population, however the data was collected in 2008 so it is twelve years out of date (IUCN, 2020). This is the smallest tiger subspecies. They have the darkest coat with the most stripes (SDZG, 2020). The sides of their face has the longest fur (SDZG, 2020).
Human-tiger conflict is a growing issue in areas where humans and tigers struggle to coexist. Most tiger organizations agree on the main threats that tigers face are poaching, habitat loss, prey loss, climate change, and the illegal wildlife trade, with poaching being the biggest threat that tigers face (BCA, 2020; IUCN, 2020; MyCat, 2020; NTCA, 2020; Panthera, 2020; SDZG, 2020; WCS, 2020; WWF, 2020). For this website poaching refers to hunting, game hunting, direct and indirect killings, and retaliation killings of tigers. Some organizations group these killing threats all together and some seperate them, either way killing a tiger is at the top of the list when it comes to conflicts with humans. Habitat loss can be done by deforestation, building roads and infrastructure, and wildfires. Habitat loss also reduces connectivity between habitats that tigers need in order to roam through their territory, find food or find a mate. Prey loss can occur when people over hunt the tigers prey species or the prey species become dispersed because of habitat loss. Climate change is affecting every species on earth with more frequent and intense drought, storms, heat waves, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, warming oceans, and wildfires (Struzik, 2020; WWF Threats, 2020 ). Global warming brings rising sea levels and it is estimated that without mitigation efforts tiger habitats in forests near the Indian Ocean may be destroyed because of the rising sea levels by 2070 (BCA, 2020). The illegal wildlife trade usually refers to the trading of animals or animal parts. For this website we will be focusing on the trading of animals, also known as the illegal pet trade. There will be more information on these conflicts later.
Literature Cited
Big Cat Allies. (2020). Threats to Tigers.
Global Tiger Force. (2017). Global tiger force. https://globaltigerforum.org/
International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. (2020). Tiger: Panthera tigris.
MyCat. (2020). The tiger: Threats. http://mycat.my/the-tiger-threats/
National Tiger Conservation Authority. (2020). Tiger mortality.
Panthera. (2020). Tiger: Panthera tigris. Panthera Tiger Fact Sheet.
San Diego Zoo Global. (2020). Animals & plants: Tiger.
Save Wild Tigers. (2020). Tiger Facts. https://www.savewildtigers.org/facts/tiger-facts
Struzik, Edward. (2017). Firestorm: how wildfire will shape our future. Washington DC,
District of Columbia: Island Press.
Wildlife Conservation Society (2020). Wildlife: Tigers.
World Wildlife Fund. (2020). Threats: Effects of climate change.
World Wildlife Fund, (2020). Tiger. https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/tiger
Comments