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Status of the tiger
Since the beginning of the 20th century, the population of wild tigers
has dwindled from around 100,000 to about 4,700 to 7,500 total of all
five remaining subspecies. In the past 60 years alone, three subspecies
of tigers have been lost to extinction — the Bali, the Java and the
Caspian tiger. The South China tiger numbers perhaps fewer than 40 individuals;
some researchers think it has already become extinct in the wild. The
other four remaining subspecies—the Sumatran, the Indo-Chinese, the
Amur or Siberian, and the Bengal — cling to a tenuous existence inside
reserves and national parks in India, Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Siberia.
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Threats
to the tiger
All five tiger subspecies share at least two main threats to their survival:
habitat destruction and poaching for their body parts or due to killing
livestock.
Habitat
destruction may be the most prevalent problem, with urbanization and human
population growth fragmenting the little land that tigers have available.
Particularly since World War II, the rapid pace of urbanization has turned
thousands of acres of prime tiger habitat into use for agriculture as
well as residential and commercial uses. This not only eliminates available
room for tigers to roam, but also fragments and cuts off access for different
populations of tigers to meet and mate, and increases the potential for
tiger/human conflicts such as poaching for pelts and body parts for use
in traditional medicines, and tigers killing domestic livestock for food.
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Powerful hunters
Tigers are the largest species of feline in the world and are also powerful
hunters. The familiar vertical striping pattern on tigers aids in hunting,
breaking up the tiger’s outline as it lurks in the shadows of the
forest. Like many cat species, tigers usually kill by grabbing their larger
prey by the throat and suffocating it (the notable exception is the jaguar,
which attacks and bites down on the back of the neck). A tiger uses its
powerful front legs and huge, clawed forepaws to bring down prey such
as deer, wild boar and gaur, or wild cattle. Then, seizing the animal’s
throat in its jaws, the tiger punctures its hide with long canine teeth,
holding the prey until it dies. Tigers eat almost everything, leaving
only the heavier bones, stomach contents and parts of the hide. A tiger
may feed on large prey two or three days, eating as much as 50 pounds
of meat in one night. On average, a tiger will make a kill 40 to 50 times
per year, averaging one kill every seven to eight days. Even with their
speed and killing ability, more often than not — perhaps 19 times
out of 20 — tigers fail to capture their intended prey.
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Reproduction
Like many feline species, tigers are loners. Males and females lead separate
lives except when mating brings them together. Once a pair has successfully
bred, the male leaves the area. He does not participate in the raising
of the young.
A female
tiger’s litter is usually made up of two or four cubs, which are
born blind and vulnerable to a number of dangers including grass fires.
Cubs nurse exclusively for the first one to two months, and will nurse
up to 6 months after which their mother begins to take them to kill sites
where they can begin to learn to eat meat. Cubs will stay with their mother
until about 24 months of age, after mastering the proper hunting techniques,
and will leave to establish their own territories.
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Why
zoos are important for tigers
Most of us will never get the opportunity to see a tiger in the wild.
We can, however, see them in zoos and gain an appreciation for their beauty.
Today, zoos not only exhibit tigers, but they also educate the public
about the plight of endangered animals such as these. Zoos have also taken
on another crucial role: preserving and breeding endangered species that
are disappearing from the wild. At the core of many wildlife conservation
projects is the Species Survival Plan® (SSP) (links to SSP section).
Woodland Park Zoo participates in more than 35 of these cooperative breeding
programs that work to ensure genetic diversity and demographic stability
in North American zoos and aquariums.
More conservation programs are trying to reconcile the interests of people
and tigers. Most people now agree that unless local needs are met, conservation
efforts to save tigers will fail.
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