Tiger

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The tiger (Panthera tigris) is a mammal of the Felidae family, the largest of four "big cats" in the Panthera genus.<ref name="britannica">Modèle:Citeweb</ref> Native to much of eastern and southern Asia, the tiger is an apex predator and an obligate carnivore. Reaching up to 4 metres (13 feet) in total length and weighing up to 300 kg (660 pounds), tigers comparable in size to the biggest extinct felids.<ref name = "Lynx">Cat Specialist Group.</ref><ref name="bbc"> BBC Wildfacts – Tiger

.</ref> Aside from their great bulk and power, their most recognizable feature is the pattern of dark vertical stripes that overlays near-white to reddish-orange fur, with lighter underparts.

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 endemic 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 are classified as endangered, some critically so. The primary direct causes are habitat loss and fragmentation and hunting. Their historical range, which once reached from Mesopotamia and the Caucasus through most of South and East Asia, has been radically reduced. While all surviving species are under formal protection, poaching, habitat destruction and inbreeding depression continue to be threats.

Nonetheless, tigers are among most recognizable and popular of the world's charismatic megafauna. They have featured prominently in ancient mythologies and folklore, and continue to be depicted in modern films and literature. Tigers appear on many flags, coats of arms and as mascots for sporting teams and serve as the national animal of several Asian nations.

Naming and etymology

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 "Tigris River".<ref name="Liddell 1980">Modèle:Cite book</ref><ref>Tiger at the Online Etymology Dictionary</ref> 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.<ref>Modèle:La icon Modèle:Cite book</ref> The generic component of its scientific designation, Panthera tigris, is often presumed to derive from Greek pan- ("all") and ther ("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".<ref> "Panther"

. Online Etymology Dictionary
. Douglas Harper  
 

 

. Retrieved on 2007-07-05. </ref>

Taxonomy and evolution

The oldest remains of a tiger like cat, called Panthera palaeosinensis have been found in China and Java. This species occurred about 2 million years ago at the beginning of the pleistocene and was smaller than a tiger. Early true tiger fossils stem from Java and are between 1.6 and 1.8 million years old. Distinct fossils from the early and middle Pleistocene were discovered in deposits from China, Sumatra and Java. A subspecies called Trinil tiger (Panthera tigris trinilensis) occurred about 1.2 million years ago and was found at the locality of Trinil, Java, Indonesia.<ref>Van den Hoek Ostende. 1999. Javan Tiger - Ruthlessly hunted down. 300 Pearls - Museum highlights of natural diversity. Downloaded on 11 August 2006.</ref> In India, and northern Asia the tiger appears for the first time in the late pleistocene. Fossil tigers were also found in eastern Beringia (but not on the American Continent) and Sachalin island. Tiger fossils of the late Pleistocene have also turned up in Japan. These fossils indicate that the Japanese tiger was not bigger than the island subspecies of tigers of recent ages. This may be due to the phenomenon in which body size is related to environmental space (see island dwarfism), or in the case of a large predator like a tiger, availability of prey. Until the Holocene tigers occurred also in Borneo, where it is not present today.

Subspecies

There are nine recent subspecies of tiger, three of which are extinct, one of which is almost certain to become extinct in the near future, and five of which still occur.<ref name="britannica" /> Their historical range (severely diminished today) ran through Russia, Siberia, Iran, Afghanistan, India, China and south-east Asia, including the Indonesian islands. The surviving subspecies in descending order of wild population are:

• The Bengal tiger or the Royal Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) is found in parts of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Burma. 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 (450–500 lb), while the average female will weigh about 141 kg.<ref>Sunquist, Mel and Fiona Sunquist. 2002. Wild Cats of the World. University Of Chicago Press, Chicago</ref> However, the northern Indian and the Nepalese Bengal tigers are supposed to be somewhat bulkier than those found in the south of the Indian Subcontinent, with males averaging around 520 lbs (236 kg).<ref>Sunquist, Mel and Fiona Sunquist. 2002. Wild Cats of the World. University Of Chicago Press, Chicago</ref> Population estimates range from 2,000 to 4,500<ref>Task force says tigers under siege</ref>. Since 1972, there has been a massive wildlife conservation project known as Project Tiger underway to protect the Bengal tiger. The project is considered as one of the most successful wildlife conservation programs, though at least one Tiger Reserve (Sariska) has lost its entire tiger population to poaching.<ref> No tigers found in Sariska: CBI

. DeccanHerald.com  
 

 

. Retrieved on 2007-07-20.

(Archive).</ref> 

• 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 (242–308 lb). Their preferred habitat is forests in mountainous or hilly regions. Estimates of the Indonese tiger population vary between 1,200 to 1,800, with only several hundred left in the wild. The largest current population is in Malaysia, where illegal poaching is strictly controlled, but all existing populations are at extreme risk from habitat fragmentation and inbreeding. In Vietnam, almost three-quarters of the tigers killed provide stock for Chinese pharmacies.
• The Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris malayensis), exclusively found in the southern (Malaysian) 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,<ref> Laboratory of Genomic Diversity LGD

.</ref> 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 a national icon in Malaysia, appearing on its coat of arms and in logos of Malaysian institutions, such as Maybank.

• The Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and is critically endangered.<ref>Modèle:IUCN2006 Database entry includes a brief justification of why this subspecies is critically endangered and the criteria used.</ref> It is the smallest of all living tiger subspecies, with adult males weighing between 100–130 kg (220–286 lb) and females 70–90 kg (154–198 lb). Their small size is an adaptation to the thick, dense forests of the Sumatra island 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, if it does not go extinct.<ref>Cracraft J., Felsenstein J., Vaughn J., Helm-Bychowski K. (199Image:Cool.gif Sorting out tigers (Panthera tigris) Mitochondrial sequences, nuclear inserts, systematics, and conservation genetics. Animal Conservation 1: 139–150.</ref> 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 the 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.

• The Siberian Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), also known as the Amur, Manchurian or North China tiger, is confined to the Amur-Ussuri region of Primorsky and Khabarovsky Krai in far eastern Siberia, where it is now protected. Considered the largest subspecies, with an average weight of around 227 kg (500 lb) for males.<ref>Sunquist, Mel and Fiona Sunquist. 2002. Wild Cats of the World. University Of Chicago Press, Chicago</ref> The Amur tiger is also noted for its thick coat, distinguished by a paler golden hue and a fewer stripes. 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.

• 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 species in the world.<ref> www.china.org.cn Retrieved on 6 October 2007</ref> will almost certainly become extinct. It is one of the smaller tiger subspecies. The length of the South China tiger ranges from 2.2–2.6 m (87–104 in) for both males and females. Males weigh between 127 and 177 kg (280–390 lb) while females weigh between 100 and 118 kg (220–260 lb). From 1983 to 2007, no South China tigers were sighted.<ref name="xinhua">http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2007-10/13/content_6873252.htm</ref> In 2007 a farmer spotted a tiger and handed in photographs to the authorities as proof.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7042257.stm</ref><ref name="xinhua"/> 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. 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 by 2008.

Extinct subspecies

• The Balinese tiger (Panthera tigris balica) has always been limited to the island of Bali. 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 Hindu religion.

• 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 specimen was sighted in 1979, but there was a re-ignition of reported sightings during the 1990s.<ref>Bambang M. 2002. In search of 'extinct' Javan tiger. The Jakarta Post (October 30).</ref><ref>Harimau jawa belum punah! (Indonesian Javan Tiger website)</ref>

• The Caspian tiger or Persian Tiger (Panthera tigris virgata) appears to have become extinct in the late 1950s,<ref name="casp">Modèle:Citeweb</ref><ref name="casp2">Modèle:Citeweb</ref> with the last reliable sighting in 1968, though it is thought that such a tiger was last shot dead in the south-eastern-most part of Turkey in 1970. Historically it ranged through Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, the former Soviet Union, and Turkey.<ref name="casp" /> The Caspian tiger was a large subspecies and reached nearly the dimensions of the Bengal Tiger. The heaviest confirmed weight of a male was 240 kg. The ground colour was comparable to that of the Indian subspecies, but differed especially in the tight, narrow striping pattern. The stripes were rather dark grey or brown than black. Especially during the winter, the fur was relatively long. The Caspian tiger was one of two subspecies of tiger (along with the Bengal) that was used by the Romans to battle gladiators and other animals, including the Barbary Lion. The Romans traveled far to capture exotic beasts for the arena. There are still occasional reported sightings of the Caspian Tiger in the wild.<ref name="casp2" />

Hybrids

Modèle:Further Hybridization among the big cats, including the tiger, was first conceptualized in the 19th century when zoos were particularly interested in the pursuit of finding oddities to display for financial gain.<ref name="hybridisation">Modèle:Citeweb</ref>

Lions have also been known to breed with tigers (most often the Amur and Bengal subspecies) to create hybrids called ligers and tigons.<ref>Modèle:Cite book</ref> The liger is a cross between a male lion and a tigress.<ref name="liger">Modèle:Cite book</ref> Because the lion sire passes on a growth-promoting gene, but the corresponding growth-inhibiting gene from the female lion 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 if they grow one their manes will be modest: around 50% of a pure lion mane. Ligers are typically between 10 to 12 feet in length, and can be between 800 and 1,000 pounds or more.<ref name="liger" /> The less common tigon is a cross between the lioness and the male tiger.<ref>Modèle:Citeweb</ref> 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.

Biology and behaviour

Physical characteristics

Tigers are the heaviest cats found in the wild,<ref name="WWF"> WWF – Tigers – Ecology

.</ref> but the subspecies differ strongly in size, tending to increase proportionally with latitude, as predicted by Bergmann's Rule. Large male Siberian Tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) can reach a total length of 3.5 m and a weight of 306 kg.<ref name="der-tiger">(German) Vratislav Mazak: Der Tiger. Nachdruck der 3. Auflage von 1983. Westarp Wissenschaften Hohenwarsleben, 2004 ISBN 3 894327596</ref> Apart from those exceptional large individuals, male Siberian tigers usually have a head and body length of 190–220 cm and an average weight of 227 kg<ref>Sunquist, Mel and Fiona Sunquist. 2002. Wild Cats of the World. University Of Chicago Press, Chicago.</ref> (The tail of a tiger is 60–110 cm long). The heaviest siberian tiger 384 kg,<ref>Graham Batemann: Die Tiere unserer Welt Raubtiere, Deutsche Ausgabe: Bertelsmann Verlag, 1986. </ref> but according to Mazak these giants are not confirmed via reliable references.<ref name="der-tiger">Vratislav Mazak: Der Tiger. Nachdruck der 3. Auflage von 1983. Westarp Wissenschaften Hohenwarsleben, 2004 ISBN 3 894327596</ref> Females are smaller, those of the Siberian or Indian subspecies weigh only between 100 and 181 kg. Isle tigers like the sumatran subspecies (P. t. sumatrae) are much smaller than mainland tigers and weigh usually only 100–140 kg in males and 75–110 kg in females. The extinct Bali Tiger (P. t. balica) was even smaller with a weight of 90–100 kg in males and 65–80 kg in females.<ref name="der-tiger"/>

Tigers have rusty-reddish to brown-rusty coats, a fair (whitish) medial and ventral area and stripes that vary from brown or hay to pure black. The form and density of stripes differs between subspecies, but most tigers have over 100 stripes. The pattern of stripes is unique to each animal, and thus could potentially be used to identify individuals, much in the same way as fingerprints are used to identify people. This is not, however, a preferred method of identification, due to the difficulty of recording the stripe pattern of a wild tiger. It seems likely that the function of stripes is camouflage, serving to hide these animals from their prey. The stripe pattern is found on a tiger's skin and if shaved, its distinctive camouflage pattern would be preserved.

White tigers

Main article: White tiger

There is a well-known mutation that produces the white tiger (the correct term used is chinchilla albinistic),<ref name="nz">Modèle:Citeweb</ref> an animal which is rare in the wild, but widely bred in zoos due to its popularity, and because white tigers have proved helpful in solving the continual problem of inbreeding; many initiatives have taken place in white and orange tiger mating in attempt to remedy the issue. Recordings of white tigers were first made in the early 19th century.<ref>Modèle:Citeweb</ref> They can only occur when both parents carry the rare gene found in White tigers; this gene has been calculated to occur in only one in every 10,000 births. The white tiger is not a separate sub-species, but only a colour variation, and this is a common misconception. Another misconception is that White tigers are albinos, despite the fact that pigment is evident in the White tiger's stripes. They are distinct not only because of their white hue; they have distinctive blue eyes and pink noses. There are also unconfirmed reports of a "blue" or slate-coloured tiger, and largely or totally black tigers, and these are assumed, if real, to be intermittent mutations rather than distinct species.<ref name="nz" />

Like most cats, tigers are believed to have some degree of colour vision.<ref> Tigers: Senses

. Busch Gardens Animal Information Database  
 

 

. Retrieved on 2006-06-22. </ref>

Territorial behavior

Adult tigers are fiercely territorial. The size of a tiger's home range mainly depends on prey abundance, and, in the case of male tigers, on access to females. A tigress may have a territory of 20 km² while the territories of males are much larger, covering 60–100 km². While females can at times be aggressive towards other females, their territories can overlap and they do tolerate each other. Males, however, are usually intolerant of other males within their territory. Because of their aggressive nature, territorial disputes can be violent, and may end in the death of one of the males. To identify his territory, the male marks trees by spraying urine and anal gland secretions on trees as well as by marking trails with scat. Males show a grimacing face, called the Flehmen response, when identifying a female's reproductive condition by sniffing their urine markings.

Male tigers can mingle easily with females in their territories and will even share kills. George Schaller observed a male tiger share a kill with two females and four cubs. Females are often reluctant to let males near their cubs, but Schaller saw that these females made no effort to protect or keep their cubs from the male. This suggests that the male might have been the father of the cubs. In contrast to male lions, male tigers will allow the females and cubs to feed on the kill first. Females will also share kills, even more so than the males. They are also much more tolerant of sharing kills with individuals of the same sex.<ref name="zoogoer">Modèle:Citeweb</ref>

Tigers have been studied in the wild using a variety of techniques. The populations of tigers were estimated in the past using plaster casts of their pugmarks. In recent times, camera trapping has been used instead. Newer techniques based on DNA from their scat are also being evaluated. Radio collaring has also been a popular approach to tracking them for study in the wild.

Hunting and diet

In the wild, tigers mostly feed on larger and medium sized animals. Sambar, gaur, water buffalo, chital, wild boar and nilgai are the tiger's favored prey in India. In Siberia the main prey species are Mandchurian elk, wild boar, sika deer, roe deer and musk deer. In Sumatra rusa deer, wild boar and Malayan tapir are preyed on. In the former Caspian tiger's range saiga, camels, Caucasian Wisent, yak and wild horses were preyed. Like many predators, they are opportunistic and will eat much smaller prey such as as monkeys, peacocks, hares and fish.

Adult elephants are too dangerous to tigers to serve as common prey, but conflicts between elephants and tigers do sometimes take place. A case where a tiger killed an adult female Indian rhino has been observed.<ref>Sympatric Tiger and Leopard: How two big cats coexist in the same area. Ecology.info</ref> Young elephant and rhino calves are occasionally taken. Tigers also sometimes prey on domestic animals such as dogs, cows, horses and donkeys. These individuals are termed cattle-lifters or cattle-killers in contrast to typical game-killers.

Old tigers or those wounded and rendered incapable of catching their natural prey have turned into man-eaters; this pattern has recurred frequently across India. An exceptional case is that of the Sunderbans, where healthy tigers prey upon fishermen and villagers in search of forest produce, humans thereby forming a minor part of the Tiger's diet.<ref>http://www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/maneating7.html</ref>

Hunting methods

Tigers hunt alone and prefer medium to large sized herbivores. They ambush their prey as other cats do, overpowering them from any angle, using their body size and strength to knock large prey off balance. Even with their great masses, tigers can reach speeds of about 49-65 km/h (35-40 mph). Tigers prefer to bite the throats of large prey and use their muscled forelimbs to hold onto the prey, bringing it to the ground. The tiger remains latched onto the neck until its prey dies. With small prey, the tiger bites the nape, often breaking the spinal cord, piercing the windpipe, or severing the jugular vein or carotid artery. The prey is killed instantly.

In the wild, tigers can leap as high as 5 m (16 ft) and as far as 9–10 m (30–33 ft), making them one of the highest-jumping mammals (just slightly behind cougars in jumping ability).

They have been reported to carry domestic livestock weighing 50 kg (110 lb) while easily jumping over fences 2 m (6 ft 6 in) high. Their heavily muscled forelimbs are used to hold tightly onto the prey and to avoid being dislodged, especially by large prey such as gaurs. Gaurs and water buffalos weighing over a ton have been killed by tigers weighing about a sixth as much. The combination of claws and power behind a tiger's paws enables it to kill an adult human with one swipe.<ref>Tiger kills woman in one swipe</ref>

Interspecific predatory relationships

Tigers may kill such formidable predators as leopards, pythons and even crocodiles on occasion,<ref>Tiger – BangaliNET.com</ref><ref>Tiger – Oakland Zoo</ref><ref>Sunquist, Fiona & Mel Sunquist. 1988. Tiger Moon. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.</ref> although predators typically avoid one another. Tigers have been known to suppress wolf populations in areas where the two species coexist.<ref name="IUCN-Reuters"> The IUCN-Reuters Media Awards 2000

. IUCN  
 

 

. Retrieved on 2007-08-17. </ref><ref name="savethetiger"> Amur Tiger

. Save The Tiger Fund  
 

 

. Retrieved on 2007-08-17. </ref> Dhole packs have been observed to attack and kill tigers in disputes over food, though not usually without heavy losses.<ref name="DHOLE">Modèle:Cite book</ref> Siberian tigers and brown bears can be competitors and usually avoid confrotation; however, tigers will kill bear cubs and even some adults on occasion. Bears (Asiatic black bears and brown bears) make up 5-8% of the tigers diet in the Russian Far East.<ref name="der-tiger">Vratislav Mazak: Der Tiger. Nachdruck der 3. Auflage von 1983. Westarp Wissenschaften Hohenwarsleben, 2004 ISBN 3 894327596</ref> Sloth bears are quite aggressive and will sometimes drive tigers away from their kills, in some cases Bengal tigers prey on sloth bears.<ref name="der-tiger">Vratislav Mazak: Der Tiger. Nachdruck der 3. Auflage von 1983. Westarp Wissenschaften Hohenwarsleben, 2004 ISBN 3 894327596</ref>

Reproduction

A female is only receptive for a few days and mating is frequent during that time period. A pair will copulate frequently and noisily, like other cats. The gestation period is 16 weeks and 3–4 cubs of about 1 kg (2 lb) each are born. The females rear them alone. Wandering male tigers may kill cubs to make the female receptive. At 8 weeks, the cubs are ready to follow their mother out of the den. The cubs become independent around 18 months of age, but it is not until they are around 2–2½ years old that they leave their mother. The cubs reach sexual maturity by 3–4 years of age. The female tigers generally own territory near their mother, while males tend to wander in search of territory, which they acquire by fighting and eliminating another male. Over the course of her life, a female tiger will give birth to an approximately equal number of male and female cubs. Tigers breed well in captivity, and the captive population in the United States may rival the wild population of the world.<ref name="zoogoer" />

Habitat

Tigers are found in a variety of habitats, including both tropical and evergreen forests, woodlands, grasslands, rocky country, swamps, and savannas. The Caspian tiger was also found in steppes and mountainous areas. Compared to the lion, the tiger prefers more dense vegetation, for which its camouflage is ideally suited, and where a single predator is not at a disadvantage compared to a pride. Among the big cats, only the tiger and jaguar are strong swimmers; tigers are often found bathing in ponds, lakes, and rivers.

Conservation efforts

Main article: Tiger conservation

Poaching for fur and destruction of habitat have greatly reduced tiger populations in the wild. A century ago, it is estimated there were over 100,000 tigers in the world but the population has dwindled to between 7,000 and 5,000 tigers.<ref>Big Cat Recuse - Tiger</ref> 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.<ref name="IUCN" /> The threat of extinction is mitigated somewhat by the presence of some 20,000 tigers currently in captivity, although parts of the captive population (eg. the 4-5,000 animals in China's commercial tiger farms) are of low genetic diversity.

India

Main article: Project Tiger

India harbors the largest population of wild tigers in the world, along with one of highest human populations. A major concerted conservation effort known as Project Tiger has been underway since 1973, 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 1200 in 1973 to over 3500 in the 1990's, though the reports of the Indian government are occasionally met with some skepticism.^{[citation needed]} A recently passed tribal Bill, which allows tribal populations to reside inside designated tiger sanctuaries may have impacts on the continuing success of the program.^{[citation needed]}

Russia

The Siberian tiger was on the brink of extinction with only about 40 animals in the wild in the 1940's. During the Soviet Union anti-poaching controls were strict and a network of protected zones (zapovedniks) were instituted, leading to a rise in the population so several hundred. Poaching became again a problem when the Russian economy collapsed in the 1990's and local hunters had access to a formerly sealed off lucrative Chinese market as well as an increase in logging in the region. While an improvement in the local economy has led to greater resources being invested to conservation efforts, an increase of economic activity has led to an increased rate of greater 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)<ref name=WWF>. Current conservation efforts are led by local governments and NGO's in consort with international organizations such as the World Wide Fund and the Wildlife Conservation Society.<ref name=WWF> WWF: Amur (Siberian) tiger - species factsheet

. Retrieved on 2007-12-19. </ref>. 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.<ref> Simon Denyer

     (March 6, 2006)
   
.    Dalai Lama offers Indian tigers a lifeline 
. iol.co.za 
   

. Retrieved on 2007-07-20. </ref><ref> Justin Huggler

     (February 18, 2006)
   
.    Fur flies over tiger plight 
. New Zealand Herald
. Tibet.com 
   

. Retrieved on 2007-07-20. </ref><ref> Dalai Lama campaigns for wildlife

. BBC News 
 
 (April 6, 2005)
   

. Retrieved on 2007-07-20. </ref>

Rewilding

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 of Dudhwa 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. A number of Chinese tiger cubs will be selected from zoos in China and sent to a 300 square kilometre reserve near the town of Philippolis in South Africa where they will be taught to hunt for themselves, the offspring of the trained tigers will be released into the pilot reserves in China, while the trained tigers will continue to stay in South Africa to continue breeding.<ref>http://english.savechinastigers.org/node/255#14</ref> A second Chinese tiger rehabilitation project is also being run in Fujian, China.<ref>http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-07/16/content_6383715.htm</ref>

It is planned that in time, successfully rehabilitated South China Tigers will be released into a Pilot Reserve in China. China will conduct the work of surveying land, restoring habitat and prey with in the Pilot reserve. The first Chinese Tigers are expected to be reintroduced into the wild to coincide with the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008<ref>http://english.savechinastigers.org/node/255#14</ref>

Relation with humans

The tiger as prey

Modèle:Expand-section The tiger has been one of the big 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.<ref name="Tiger-hunting">vide Royal Tiger (nom-de-plume) in The Manpoora Tiger - about a Tiger Hunt in Rajpootanah. (1836) Bengal Sporting Magazine, Vol IV. reproduced in The Treasures of Indian Wildlife</ref> 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: Man-eating tigers

Although attacks on human are uncommon, the tiger has killed more people than any other cat, particularly in those places where population growth has put pressure from logging and farming on tiger habitats. Most man-eating tigers are old and missing teeth, aquiring a taste for humans because of inability to capture preferred prey.<ref>http://www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/maneating.html</ref> 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 sticking to village outskirts.<ref>http://www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/maneating3.html</ref> Nevertheless, attacks in human villages do occur.<ref>Increasing tiger attacks trigger panic around Tadoba-Andhari reserve</ref> 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.

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 CITES and a domestic trade ban has been in place in China since 1993. Still, there are a number of tiger farms in the country specializing in breeding the cats for profit. It is estimated that between 4000 and 5000 captive-bred, semi-tame animals live in these farms today.<ref>WWF: Chinese tiger farms must be investigated</ref><ref>WWF: Breeding tigers for trade soundly rejected at CITES</ref> China's wealthy businessmen are known to eat tiger penis as they feel it is an aphrodisiac.<ref>[1]</ref>

As pets

The American Zoo and Aquarium Association estimates that up to 12,000 tigers are being kept as private pets in the USA, which is significantly more than the world's entire wild population.<ref name="book-of-general-ignorance">Lloyd, J & Mitchinson, J: "The Book of General Ignorance". Faber & Faber, 2006.</ref> 4000 are believed to be in captivity in Texas alone.<ref name="book-of-general-ignorance"/>

A well known pop culture reference to the keeping of tigers as pets can be found in the Brian De Palma remake of Scarface starring Al Pacino. Pacino's character, Tony Montana, aspires to obtaining all the exterior trappings of the American Dream, which in the character's opinion included the ownership of a pet tiger, in this case kept on chain on his property.

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 licence, and sixteen states have no regulations at all.<ref name="book-of-general-ignorance"/>

The success of breeding programmes at American zoos and circuses led to an overabundance of cubs in the 1980s and 90s, which drove down prices for the animals.<ref name="book-of-general-ignorance"/> The SPCA estimate there are now 500 lions, tigers and other big cats in private ownership just in the Houston area.<ref name="book-of-general-ignorance"/>

Cultural depictions

The tiger replaces the lion as King of the Beasts in cultures of eastern Asia<ref>http://english.savechinastigers.org/node/316</ref>, representing royalty, fearlessness and wrath.<ref name = "Cooper92">Modèle:Cite book</ref> 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 Gar 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),<ref name = "Cooper92"/> while the emperor and empress were represented by a dragon and phoenix, respectively. The White Tiger (Modèle:Zh-cp) 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.<ref name = "Cooper92"/>

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.<ref name="SAM">Modèle:Cite book</ref>

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 Aiyappa was associated with a tiger.<ref> Balambal , V

     (1997)
   
.    19. Religion - Identity - Human Values - Indian Context 
. Bioethics in India: Proceedings of the International Bioethics Workshop in Madras: Biomanagement of Biogeoresources, 16-19 Jan. 1997
. Eubios Ethics Institute 
   

. Retrieved on 2007-10-08. </ref>

The weretiger replaces the werewolf in shapeshifting folklore in Asia;<ref name="summers66"> Modèle:Cite book</ref> in India they were evil sorcerers while in Indonesia and Malaysia they were somewhat more benign.<ref name="javaweretigerstuff"> Modèle:Cite book </ref>

"Nimer" (tiger) is a common Arabic male first name (see 'Abd al-Majid Nimer Zaghmout, [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], ), fulfilling a similar function (i.e. calling a man by the name of a strong and powerful animal) as "lion" names such as Leon, Leo or Leonard in various European languagues.

The tiger continued 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 Atlantic 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 as a national animal

The Tiger is the national animal of:

• Bangladesh (Royal Bengal Tiger)
• India (Royal Bengal Tiger)<ref> National Symbols of India

. High Commission of India, London  
 

 

. Retrieved on 2007-10-25. </ref>

• Malaysia (Malayan Tiger)
• Nepal (Royal Bengal Tiger)
• North Korea (Siberian Tiger)
• South Korea (Siberian Tiger)

World's Favourite Animal

In a poll conducted by Animal Planet, the Tiger was voted World's Favourite Animal, narrowly beating the man's best friend, the dog. More than 50000 viewers from 73 countries voted in the poll. The tiger received 21 percent of the vote, the dog 20, the dolphin 13, the horse 10, the lion 9, the snake 8, followed by the elephant, the chimp, the orangutan and the whale. Tigers obtained 10 904 votes, just 17 votes more than dogs.<ref name="int.iol.co.za">Tiger tops dog as world's favourite animal</ref><ref>http://www.pers.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=197&Itemid=50</ref><ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4070000/newsid_4073100/4073151.stm</ref><ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20041206/ai_n12814678</ref>

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".<ref name="int.iol.co.za" />

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.<ref name="int.iol.co.za" />

Gallery

Picture of Felis tigris (Panthera tigris) subspecies unknown

Dervish with a lion and a tiger. Mughal painting, c. 1650

See also

• Black tiger (animal)
• Tiger Temple, a Buddhist temple in Thailand famous for its tame tigers
• Siegfried & Roy, two famous tamers of tigers
• Project Tiger, India
• Maltese Tiger

Cited references

References

• Modèle:Aut (1993). Big cats kingdom of might, Voyageur press.
• Modèle:Aut & Modèle:Aut (eds). 2005. The Treasures of Indian Wildlife. Bombay Natural History Society and Oxford University Press, Mumbai.
• Modèle:Aut (1981). Panthera tigris. (PDF). Mammalian Species, 152: 1-8. American Society of Mammalogists.
• Modèle:Aut (1999) Walker's Mammals of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-5789-9
• Modèle:Aut. (1999) Riding the Tiger. Tiger Conservation in Human-dominated Landscapes Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521648351

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External links

Modèle:Wikispecies

• Center for Animal Research and Education Providing Sanctuary for over 50 big cats
• Save The Tiger Fund
• Save China's Tigers Information regarding the South China Tiger rewilding project in Africa
• Sundarbans Tiger Project Research and Conservation of tigers in the largest remaining mangrove forest in the world.
• Tiger Conservation Securing a future for Tigers in the wild
• Tigers in Crisis Information about the Earth's vanishing Tigers.
• BBC Wildfacts: Tiger
• Can India's tigers survive extinction? Author Valmik Thapar on the tiger crisis
• Why India's tigers may yet survive Scientist Ullas Karanth on the road ahead
• Tiger Haven Sanctuary
• Tiger Canyons Homepage Information regarding the Crossbred Tiger Rewilding project
• Kanha National Park
• 21st Century Tiger Raises funds for wild tiger conservation projects
• Tijgeritorium Everything you want to know about tigersModèle:Link FA

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