Green Heart At Work: July 2016

Friday 29 July 2016

Tiger facts

Source: Tribune International

· Their scientific name is Panthera tigris.

· Their status is Endangered.

· They are renowned for their power and strength.

· The tiger it is one of nature’s most feared predators as they are capable of killing animals over twice their size.

· Tigers have been known to reach the age of 26 years in the wild.

· They are very good swimmers and have been known to kill prey while swimming. They often cool off in lakes and streams during the heat of the day.

· The roar of a Bengal tiger can carry for over 2km at night.

· Tigers are powerful and fast over short distances.

· They rely primarily on sight and sound rather than smell.

· All tigers can purr, but only as they breathe out, unlike their tame, domestic relatives which purr as they breathe both in and out.

Description

Source: Dailymail

· Tigers are the largest members of the cat family.

· They sport long, thick reddish coats with white bellies and white and black tails.

· Their heads, bodies, tails, and limbs have narrow black, brown, or grey stripes.

· Within each subspecies, males are heavier than females.

· Tigers use their distinctive coats as camouflage (no two have the same stripes).

Range

Source: Wikipedia

· Tigers used to roam across most of Asia. Historic tiger range ran from Turkey through South and Southeast Asia to the far eastern shores of the continent.

· They are now restricted to just 7% of their original range, in isolated forests across 13 countries, and are only found in South and Southeast Asia, China and the Russian Far East.

Habitat

· Tigers occupy a variety of habitats from tropical forests, evergreen forests, woodlands, and mangrove swamps to grasslands, savannah, and rocky country.

Population

· In the early 1900s, there were around 100,000 tigers throughout their range.

· Today, an estimated total of around 3,000 exist in the wild.

Behaviour

· Tigers live alone and aggressively scent-mark large territories to keep their rivals away. The size of the territory is determined mostly by the availability of prey.

· Although individuals do not patrol their territories, they visit them over a period of days or weeks and mark their domain with urine.

· Tigers mostly live solitary lives, except during mating season and when females bear young.

Diet

· They typically hunt alone and stalk prey.

· A Bengal tiger can eat 21kg of meat in a night and can kill the equivalent of 30 buffaloes a year.

· One tiger nearly requires to eat an average magnitude deer each week to sustain itself.

· The tiger relies heavily on its powerful teeth for survival. If it loses its canines (tearing teeth) through injury or old age, it can no longer kill and is likely to starve to death.

· They are ambush predators that rely on the camouflage their stripes provide.

· They are powerful nocturnal (more active at night) hunters that travel far to find buffalo, deer, wild pigs, and other large mammals. It also preys on monkeys, lizards, and occasionally porcupines.

· If the kill is large, the tiger may drag the remains to a thicket and loosely bury it with leaves, then return to it later.

Reproduction

Source: NBC Washington

· In tropical climates the mating season is mostly from around November to April; during the winter months in temperate regions.

· Tigers attain sexual maturity at age three or four for females and at four or five years for males.

· Gestation: 103 days.

· On average, tigers give birth to two or three cubs every two years.

· Females raise cubs with little or no help from the male.

· Cubs follow their mother out of the den at around 8 weeks and become independent at around 18 months of age.

· They leave their mothers at about 2 ½ years and disperse to find their own territory.

· Mothers guard their young from wandering males that may kill the cubs to make the female receptive to mating.

· If all the cubs in one litter die, a second litter may be produced within five months.

· Juvenile mortality is high —about half of all cubs do not survive more than two years.

Species

· Bengal tiger: Less than 2,000

Source: Tigers world

· Indochinese tiger: 750-1,300

Source: Arkive

· Siberian tiger: Around 450

Source: Tigers in Crisis

· Sumatran tiger: 400-500

Source: WWF

· Malayan tiger: 600-800

Source: A-Z Animals

· South Chinese tiger: Extinct in the wild

· Caspian tiger: Extinct

· Javan tiger: Extinct

· Bali tiger: Extinct

REFERENCES

Today, on the 29^thof July, we are celebrating a critically important day: International Tiger Day. Tigers, the largest of the cat species, have mystique and charisma and are a symbol of strength and power. Yet, the number of wild tiger is astonishingly low and, in fact, is the lowest it has ever been. This day was founded at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in 2010 when it was realised that these magnificent creatures are on the brink of extinction. Tigers are one of the most fascinatingly admired animals with their distinct orange and black stripes, but, unfortunately, are vulnerable to extinction. Sadly, the world has lost 97% of all wild tigers in just over 100 years. Instead of an abundantly 100,000, there is only about 3200 left in the wild today. What is even more shocking is the fact that at this current rate, all tigers living in the wild could be extinct in the next decade. There are only 100 tigers left in Bangladesh's largest mangrove forest. In Indonesia, there remain as few as 400 Sumatran tigers, while both Bali and Javan Tigers are already extinct.

It is celebrated worldwide to successfully convey the message of tiger conservation. This day is annually celebrated to place particular attention on conserving tigers. It strives to raise public awareness and support for tiger conservation issues. The goal is to effectively promote the protection and expansion of the wild tigers’ habitats and to draw attention to declining tiger populations and their ecosystems. It is about highlighting the tigers that remain and halting their decline. Furthermore, it entails promoting a global system for protecting the natural habitats of tigers. Many influential and well-known international organisations are involved in this day, including the WWF, the IFAW, and the Smithsonian Institute.

WHY TIGERS MATTER

Source: Daily Express

Tigers help maintain a healthy balance. As top predators, they help to keep their habitat healthy by preying on other animals – mainly herbivores, for example deer. Without them, there would be too many herbivores, causing overgrazing and degrading habitats. This would disrupt the balance of the ‘ecosystem’ – the living (animals and plants) and non-living (e.g. air and water) components of the environment. Thus tigers are important for the well-being of people (who depend on healthy ecosystems for food, water and many other resources) and for the survival of other wildlife (which relies on balanced ecosystems).

National Geographic Kids

THREATS

After many years of poaching and environment loss, the number of tigers have decreased considerably. The survival of these majestic creatures is threatened because they constantly face unrelenting pressures, including:

Habitat loss

Tigers’ habitat has been destroyed, degraded, and fragmented by human activities. The clearing of forests for agriculture and timber, expansion of cities as well as the building of road networks and other development activities pose serious threats to tiger habitats and have led to tigers losing 93% of their natural habitat and historical range. Deforestation is decreasing not only habitats but prey. Because the human populations continue to expand, there is a greater need for space to farm and live. Furthermore, less can survive in small, scattered islands of habitat leading to a greater risk of inbreeding. Not only that, but these small islands of habitat make them more susceptible to poaching.

Human wildlife conflict

Because there are limited regions where tigers can live and hunt safety, they face more encounters with humans. People and tigers are competing for space which, inevitably, threatens the world’s remaining wild tigers. Because forests shrink and prey get scarce, tigers are forced to hunt domestic livestock. But local communities depend on it for their livelihood and, in retaliation, tigers are killed.

Climate change

A large tiger population is found in the Sundarbans, which is a mangrove forest area shared by India and Bangladesh on the northern coast of the Indian Ocean. This area protects coastal regions from storm surges and wind damage and Bengal tigers occur here. But, rising sea levels, caused by climate change, threaten to wipe out these forests as well as the last remaining habitat of this particular tiger population.

In order to counteract these threats, support from several international organisations is taking place, notably the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the International Union for Conservation (IUCN). They are able to create global legislation, for example, CITES works to control trade in plant and animal species between borders, ensuring trade doesn’t lead to extinction.

Source: Youtube

This important day can be a roaring success if all of us do our bit for tiger conservation!

REFERENCES

https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/international-tiger-day/

http://www.defenders.org/tiger/basic-facts

http://www.earthtimes.org/politics/international-tiger-day-2014/2651/#5Yv2ZoLQDVPfVqA5.99

http://eeingeorgia.org/net/content/go.aspx?s=103708.0.68.4863

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/International-Tiger-Day-forest-protection/blog/53629/

http://www.jimcorbettnational-park.com/global-tiger-day-celebration-july-29th.html

http://tigerday.org/

http://tigerday.org/what-is-international-tiger-day/

http://tigerday.org/tiger-species/

http://tigerday.org/tiger-facts/

http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/tiger

http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/bengal-tiger

http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/amur-tiger

http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/sumatran-tiger

http://www.wwf.org.uk/wildlife/tigers/

Tuesday 5 July 2016

Important Environmental Days

There are several international environmental days that are celebrated annually to raise awareness about particular environmental issues as well as to show that you care for the environment, including:

· February 2 - World Wetlands Day