The Tiger

This is a highly contentious issue. It has been for a very long time. It affects tiger conservation dramatically. A research study published in 2008 provides us with some information about the attitudes of Chinese people living in China about eating bits of tiger and using Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) tiger products and the effect on conservation. Traditional Chinese Medicine tiger products which are hugely damaging to tiger conservation. Image: WWF The scientists surveyed 1,880 residents from six Chinese cities. In summary the results are as follows: 43% had consumed some products that were said to contain tiger parts (this points to the fact that some of these products may not have genuinely contained tiger parts but were sold as containing them) 71% of the respondents said they preferred wild products over farmed ones. This means that they believe that eating the body parts of wild tigers was more beneficial to them than eating the body parts of farmed tigers. You properly kno

This is a tiger attacking a person on top of an elephant in the wild. Extraordinary. Image: Screenshot from a video. Tigers are large, powerful predators that naturally prey on a variety of animals. Although attacks on humans are relatively rare, they do occur from time to time. There are several reasons why a tiger may attack a human, including: Hunger: If a tiger is hungry and cannot find prey in its natural habitat, it may see a human as an easy target. Territory: Tigers are territorial animals, and if a human enters their territory, they may feel threatened and attack to protect their territory. Provocation: If a tiger feels threatened or provoked by a human, it may attack in self-defense. Injuries or illness: In some cases, a tiger may attack a human if it is injured or ill and unable to hunt its natural prey. It's important to note that most tiger attacks on humans occur when people enter tiger habitats or get too close to the animals. In general, tigers will avoid humans if

Tigers are able to produce their distinctive roar with the help of a specialized larynx and vocal cords. Their larynx, also known as the voice box, is larger and more complex than that of other big cats, such as lions and leopards. Tiger roar by DALL-E. The roar is produced when the tiger exhales forcefully, causing air to pass over the vocal cords, which vibrate and produce the sound. The sound is amplified by the tiger's large chest cavity, and can be heard from up to 2 miles (3 kilometers) away. Click this for some more detail on the tiger roar . Tigers can also produce other vocalizations, such as growls, snarls, and moans, to communicate with other tigers or signal aggression, warning, or mating readiness. Dissections of the larynges of various cat species in studies have shown that the structure of the vocal folds in the genus Panthera are well-suited for producing a high acoustical energy, allowing these big cats to produce their characteristic roar. The efficient sound radi

In 1997 a study was conducted on the decline and impending extinction of the South China tiger. The conclusion of the scientists was indeed very black and depressing. The scientists concluded that no wild South China tiger had been seen by officials in the wild for 25 years. The last one to be brought into captivity at that time was 27 years earlier. Some more black news was that the 19 reserves listed by the Chinese Ministry of Forestry included habitat which was and is fragmented. The fragmented sections were too small to support a viable tiger population. The reserves were useless in terms of tiger conservation. They stated that "over the last 40 years wild populations have declined from thousands to a scattered a few". They also confirmed that there were some occasional sightings of tigers in China but apparently no "intensive field study" had been conducted on the South China tiger and its habitat. At that time the captive population of tigers was 50. The South

There would appear to be two factors which influence when tigers living in the wild are most active: Human activity Prey activity Human activity In a way this behaviour is reminiscent of the leopard. The tiger, in many parts of their range, have become totally nocturnal as a response to human activities. In other words, in areas where the human is active during the daytime, this has put off tigers being active themselves during the daytime and in order to avoid humans they have become nocturnal. It shows that tigers can be both nocturnal and daytime hunters. It also shows us that tigers are wary of people and don't really want to get involved with them. This might surprise some people who think that tigers prey on humans. They don't. The human is not a prey animal for the tiger. Tigers have quite nice dispositions (character). You will find that where tigers attack people it is often because they can no longer attack large prey animals (which they need to attack to survive) bec

The infographic says it all. When I prepared this infographic, I was thinking of the challenges given to the men competing in the television competition The World's Strongest Man. A lot of their tests are about dragging and carrying huge weights for as far and as fast as they can. It is a good test of brute strength. None of the past champions would have been able to move a 1,697-pound gaur on rough ground an inch. A tiger did. He 'dragged away a gaur bull'. Or drag a cow two miles up a slope in a wood!! A tiger did. That is almost unbelievable. The source is impeccable and mentioned at the base of the infographic. Infographic on why the tiger is endangered

This is a video from Twitter which indicates to me that the managers of this tiger reserve (and I don't know which one it is) have got things wrong. They have allowed too many tourists in vehicles to visit the reserve which is disturbing the tigers.  Striking a balance between tourism to raise money for tiger conservation against disturbance to tigers. The pictures are from different reserves. Image by MikeB of PoC. These disturbances cause stress in tigers. Tourists in vehicles can upset the behaviour of tigers. And I'm going to suggest that the stress element can become so serious that it can prevent matings and of course successful breeding is part of tiger conservation. A critical part. There is a very difficult balance to be struck between allowing tourists to visit a tiger reserve to raise money to maintain the reserve to, in turn, benefit the conservation of tigers in India and the negative impact that tourists can have on tiger conservation if there are too many of them