Application Assignment #2 - Protecting Tigers
Section 1: The Endangered Species
Over the years many animals have been driven to extinction. An animal that is currently listed as endangered is expected to go into extension in the near future. Certain species of animals may be at increased risk due to factors like habitat loss, poaching, and the introduction of invasive species. The current status of tigers is decreasing, they are getting closer and closer to becoming extinct. There are approximately 2,154-3159 mature individual tigers left in the world. They have a life expectancy of around 10 years while living in the wild. Tigers are one of the largest living cat species in the world. Since they are such large animals they can weigh up to 600Llbs as an adult. They are very recognizable throughout the animal kingdom due to their trademark dark vertical stripes over orange fur with a white underside. They are apex predators, which means they mostly prey on large animals like deer and wild boar. At birth tigers are called cubs, they weigh about 780 - 1,600 grams. At this stage, they stay pretty well hidden and protected in their dens with their mothers. The mother will then nurse the cub who will slowly introduce meat into their diets. They will then grow up learning how to hunt for their own food. Male tigers will venture off away from their families but the females will usually stick with their mothers. These days the tigers that live in captivity tend to live longer than those in the wild because there isn't an immediate threat from things like poachers, hunger, or even fires.
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Section 2: The Habitat
Tigers have shown to be very diverse in the past. They have been found in a vast amount of countries, but their numbers are slowly dwindling. There are a couple different tigers in the world, you can find specific types of them in different countries. Depending on the specific species of tiger, they can be found in mangroves, grasslands, savannahs, and jungle-like rainforests. Tigers have proven to be very diverse when it comes to where they can live. Some of the countries they inhabit are India, Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Russia, Cambodia, and Indonesia. The terrain and habitat they are found in the range from freezing cold and snowy to hot tropical climates.
Tigers tend to heavily thrive in areas where there is high vegetation/foilage and prey. This applies to a good amount of biomes on earth. They are found in temperate forests, boreal forests, and grassland biomes. The abiotic factors of a tiger's biome would be air, water, soil, and sunlight. Biotic factors for a tiger would include things like animals and fish. Primary producers in this environment would include plants and trees. The primary consumers would be the tigers considering they are the apex predators of their environments.
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| Grassland |
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Section 3: A Critical Threat
One of the main and most important threats tigers are facing is poaching. For a long time, poachers have been proud of killing tigers and taking their hides for their own. People will hunt tigers and shoot them to obtain their skin, bones, hide, and even their teeth. This affects other species in the biomes tigers are found. However, tigers are the main target for these poachers. This is mainly because they are apex predators and people will pay a good amount of money for a tiger's death. As stated in an article pertaining to saving tigers from poachers. It is stated that this is similar to the case of rhino horns, elephant ivory, and tiger skins are considered luxury items in a lot of cultures. This then leads to a large price for these goods, legally in china and illegally in other places such as the black market. This forces endangered animals like the tiger to go fully extinct. This applies to animals like lions, elephants, and rhino. These different animals all live in different biomes, proving that poaching is an environment-wide threat.
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Section 4: Solutions
There really aren't too many conventional ways for people attending Keene State College to help this cause. Maybe if people stayed away from buying luxurious items that have that come from poaching tigers. People could also donate money to associations or organizations that protect tigers from poaching. World Wildlife Foundation states that people should be supporting park rangers. This is because these rangers protect the natural habitats of these animals. The park rangers go away from their homes and families, often in poor conditions so they prevent poachers from being able to kill the animals. People at Keene State College could effectively donate money to these park rangers in the countries that tigers live in. This may not help the tigers directly but it would be contributing to a greater cause. This could also be applied to the tigers in captivity. Anything that can be done to help those taking care of tigers in captivity would benefit the species.
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What I enjoyed reading in this post was the range in which they are inhabited in. When I think of tigers I think they're located in very hot climates, but as described in this post and what I got to learn more about is that they can be found in a vast amount of countries and the terrains their found in can be freezing cold/snowy, to hot tropical climates. The author did a really good job at describing their upbringing and how they live, for example as stated the male tiger often ventures away from their families but the females usually stick with their mothers. I found this to be interesting as well as their habitat in grasslands which I didn't know anything about until after reading this post. I liked the three photos of this endangered species and found it very useful and pleasing to the eye. I liked how it showed the differences between this species and how the pictures were not spread out as well. The clear writing and immense amount of detail really make this post interesting to read and want to learn more about. I agree with the author in the fact that poaching is the most critical threat to this species, I like how the author included that these people are proud of their killings and taking their hides for their own, not just to make money and sell those items.
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