BRITISH CONCIL
ISA ACTIVITY
TIGERS- LET’S RETURN ITS ABODE
NAV BHARTI PUBLIC SCHOOL
MADE BY
YAGAS VASHIST
CLASS - 6
ABOUT TIGERS
• Tigers are the largest felines in the world. Many cultures consider the tiger
to be a symbol of strength and courage. However, because hunting them is
also a sign of bravery in some cultures, tigers are endangered; no more
than 3,200 tigers are left in the wild.
• Size
• Tigers have distinctive stripes, which help camouflage them when hunting
prey. Some tigers have orange fur with black stripes; others are black with
tan stripes, white with tan stripes or all white (albino), according to the
San Diego Zoo. No two tigers have the same markings on their coats. They
are as individual as fingerprints are for humans.
• On average, tigers are 4.8 to 9.5 feet (1.5 to 2.9 m) long and weigh 165 to
716 lbs. (75 to 325 kilograms). The largest tigers, the Siberian, also called
Amur, are 10.75 feet (3.3 meters) long and weigh 660 lbs. (300 kg),
according to National Geographic. The smallest tiger is the Sumatran tiger.
They grow to 5 to 12 feet (1.5 to 3.7 m) and weigh 143-670 lbs. (65-305
kg), according to the Woodland Park Zoo. Tigers also have very long tails,
which can add 2.3 to 3.6 feet (0.7 to 1.1 m) to their overall length.
TYPES OF TIGERS
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Tigers are the largest members of the cat family and are renowned for their power and strength.
The tiger is capable of killing animals over twice its size; it is one of nature’s most feared predators.
Like its ancestor, the sabre-tooth cat, 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.
Tigers live alone and aggressively scent-mark large territories (up to 100sq km in size) to keep their rivals
away.
They are powerful nocturnal hunters that travel many miles to find buffalo, deer, wild pigs, and other large
mammals. A Bengal tiger can eat 21kg of meat in a night and can kill the equivalent of 30 buffaloes a year.
The roar of a Bengal tiger can carry for over 2km at night.
Although tigers are powerful and fast over short distances, the Bengal tiger cannot outrun fleet footed
prey such as deer. Instead it uses stealth to catch its victims; attacking from the side or the rear.
Tigers use their distinctive coats as camouflage (no two have exactly the same stripes).
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.
As well as game animals, it preys on wild boar, monkeys, lizards and occasionally porcupines.
Females give birth to litters of two to six cubs, which they raise with little or no help from the male. Cubs
cannot hunt until they are 18 months old and remain with their mothers for two to three years, when they
disperse to find their own territory.
Like domestic cats, all tigers can purr. Unlike their tame relatives, however, which can purr as they breathe
both in and out, tigers purr only as they breathe out.
Unlike other cats, tigers are good swimmers and often cool off in lakes and streams during the heat of the
day.
Although tigers belong in the wild they are still used by travelling circuses in the UK.
INFORMATION ABOUT VARIOUS
TIGERS
The Bali tiger (Panther tigris
balica), harimau Bali in Indonesian,
or samong in Balinese,[2] is an
extinct tiger subspecies that was native to
the Indonesian island of Bali. It was the
first tiger subspecies that became extinct in
recent times.[1] It was one of three
subspecies of tigers found in Indonesia,
together with the Javan tiger, which is also
extinct, and the Critically
Endangered Sumatran tiger. It was the
smallest of the tiger subspecies.
The last specimen definitely recorded was
a female shot at Sumbar Kima, west Bali,
on 27 September 1937. However, a few
animals likely survived into the 1940s and
possibly 1950s.[3] The subspecies became
extinct because of habitat loss and
hunting.[4] Given the small size of the island
and limited forest cover, the
original population could never have been
large
Indochina, originally Indo-China, is a
geographical term originating in the early
nineteenth century and referring to the
continental portion of the region now
known as Southeast Asia. The name refers
to the lands historically within the cultural
influence of India and China, and
physically bound by the Indian
Subcontinent in the west and China in the
north. It corresponds to the present-day
areas
of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vi
etnam, and (variably) peninsular Malaysia.
The term was later adopted as the name of
the colony of French Indochina (today's
Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos), and the
entire area of Indochina is now usually
referred to as the Indochinese Peninsula
or Mainland Southeast Asia.
The Javan tiger was very small
compared to other subspecies of
the Asian mainland, but larger in
size than the Bali tiger. It usually
had long and thin stripes, which
were slightly more numerous than
those of the Sumatran tiger. Its nose
was long and narrow, occipital
planeremarkably narrow
and carnassials relatively long.
Based on these cranial differences,
the Javan tiger was proposed to be
assigned to a distinct
species, Panthera sondaica.
The Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris
jacksoni) is a tiger subspecies that inhabits
the southern and central parts of the Malay
Peninsula and has been classified
as Critically Endangered by IUCN in 2015
as the population was roughly estimated at
250 to 340 adult individuals in 2013; this
population likely comprises less than 250
mature breeding individuals, with a
declining trend.[1]
When in 1968 Panthera tigris corbetti was
newly designated, the tigers inhabiting the
Malayan Peninsula were included into this
subspecies.[2] In 2004, Panthera tigris
jacksoni was recognised as a new
subspecies when a genetic analysis found
that they are distinct in mtDNA and microsatellite sequences from Panthera tigris
corbetti.[3]
In Malay language the tiger is
called harimau, also abbreviated to rimau
The South China tiger (Panthera
Tigris amoyensis) is
a tiger subspecies that was native
to the provinces
of Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan, Jian
gxi in southern China, and has
been classified as critically
endangered by IUCN since 1996
as it is extinct in the wild, making it
the most threatened tiger
subspecies. There is a small
chance that some individuals are
still extant. But already in the late
1990s, continued survival was
considered unlikely due to low prey
density, widespread habitat
degradation and fragmentation,
and other human pressures. No
official or biologist has seen a wild
South China tiger since the early
1970s, when the last verified record
The Sumatran tiger (Panthera Tigris
sumatrae) is a rare tiger subspecies that
inhabits the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
It has been listed as Critically
Endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2008
as the population was estimated at 441 to
679 individuals, with no subpopulation
larger than 50 individuals and a declining
trend.
The Sumatran tiger is the only surviving
member of the Sunda Islands group of
tigers that included the now extinct Bali
tiger and Javan tiger. Sequences from
complete mitochondrial genes of 34 tigers
support the hypothesis that Sumatran
tigers are diagnostically distinct from
mainland populations.
The Bengal tiger, also called the royal
Bengal tiger(Panthera Tigris Tigris), is the
most numerous tiger subspecies. It is the
national animal of both India and
Bangladesh. By 2011, the total population
was estimated at fewer than 2,500
individuals with a decreasing trend.
What is International Tiger Day?
International Tiger Day is held annually on
July 29 to give worldwide attention to the
reservation of tigers. It is both an awareness
day as a celebration. It was founded at the
Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in 2010. This
was done because at that moment wild
tigers were too close to extinction. Many
animal welfare organisations pledged to help
these wonderful creatures and are still
helping to raise funds to reach this goal. The
goal of Tiger Day is to promote the
protection and expansion of the wiled tigers
habitats and to gain support through
awareness for tiger conservation.
TIGERS FOUND IN INDIA
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The Tiger is the National animal of India, and ideally India has the highest number of wild
tigers in the world.
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There are not many tigers left in India, perhaps 4,000, although many conservationists affirm
that their numbers may be less than 3,000, due to recently increased poaching. This is still a
rise over the situation in 1973, when Project Tiger was started. At the time, the population
was down to 1,800 animals.
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India's tigers are scattered across the country, and though some national parks have plenty of
tigers (the Sunderbans has an estimated population of 270, and Kanha has 102), it's
notoriously difficult to catch a glimpse of these solitary, nocturnal animals. Only a few parks
offer a realistic chance of seeing tigers, either because park officials track the tigers daily, or
because some tigers have become habituated to tourists in 4-wheel drives.
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Genuine wisdom seems to be that three parks provide the best chance of seeing tigers:
Corbett (in the Himalayan foothills of northern Uttar Pradesh), Kanha (in Madhya Pradesh
state) and Ranthambhore (in Rajasthan). I did not meet a single tourist who had seen wild
tigers in India outside these three parks.
TIGERS FOUND IN INDIA
WHERE ROYAL BENGAL TIGERS FOUND
IN INDIA
INDIAN TIGER’S RESERVES
TIGERS ESTIMATION IN INDIA
1. diseases
2. Habitat loss and prey depletion
3. Poor genetic diversity threat to tigers
8. Conviction rate and
quantum of
punishment being
very meagre
4. Degradation of habitats
5. Illegal wildlife traded
9. Rush of tourist 10.
6. Man-animal conflict
Absence of
political will
11.Lure for
money or
7. Lack of protection infrastructure
conservatio
n
EXPLAIN BRIEFLY
• 1. Disease Various diseases also take their toll
silently on the wildlife, including the predators.
Many animals die and there is no way to ascertain
the cause of their death. There are certain
diseases that spread like epidemic and play
havoc. Diseases like Feline
Panleucopania (highly contagious and can be
fatal), tuberculosis, sarcosystis, etc. have led to
the decimation of many animals including tigers.
Health management of wildlife, a relatively new
area, is totally neglected. There is an urgent need
to incorporate this field in the area of wildlife
conservations
2. Habitat loss and prey depletion
The key findings from many years of
study of tiger population have
indicated that in many sites, tigers
decline in numbers because of habitat
loss and prey depletion rather than
being killed directly. A tiger needs to
eat about 50 deer-sized animals or
6,600 pounds of living prey every
year. Wherever prey-base is adequate
and good protection measures are in
place tiger populations reach high
numbers simply because the
species breeds quickly.
3. Poor genetic diversity threat to tigers
A recent study by the Wildlife Institute of
India (WII) in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve
(RTR), Rajasthan, India, says tiger
population in the park has shown a loss of
genetic diversity over the years. “RTR tiger
population is showing loss of many alleles,
which may be due to an isolated population
without any genetic exchange,” said
WII’s Dr S P Goyal, the investigator of the
report — ‘Tiger Genome: Implications in
Wildlife Forensics‘. Alleles are a group of
genes that decide an animal’s hair colour
and immunity, among other characteristics.
Study was published in Times of India (3
October 2011)
The park’s tiger population had crashed to
12 in 1992 and 13 in 2003. It bounced back
to 31 in 2010 but Dharmendra Khandal, a
conservation biologist, feels lower genetic
diversity would prove to be a new threat.
4. Degradation of habitats
Big cats need secure and disturbance-free
habitat to maintain a viable population. But
haphazard development activities in the
landscape of the protected areas (PAs)
pose big threat to tigers. For instance,
Buxa Tiger Reserve is one place, which is
in the midst of a high density of human
population and faces heavy pressure from
people living in and around it.
This is very necessary and urgent that the
people living in the villages situated in and
around core of PAs should be resettled
somewhere else. Government of India has
declared it will resettle around 50,000
families from 762 villages in the core areas
of 39 tiger reserves in the country, but the
pace of the process is very slow.
5. Illegal wildlife trade
According to Interpol $32 billion was the
value of illegal wildlife trade in the world
in 2011. The agency also says that this is
the fastest growing illegal activity in the
world. Approximate figures, prevalent in
2006, show that tigers were killed for just
Rs. 5,000 in India by gullible villagers, but
were sold in international market for a hefty
price of up to $50,000 by big traders,
middlemen and smugglers. In 2011 alone
till October 48 tiger deaths were reported in
India.
Nitin Desai, director (central India), Wildlife
Protection Society of India (WPSI) says,
“Areas around parks are easy targets for
poachers. For long-term protection of
tigers, these areas need to be secured.
The tribals may not be killing the tigers but
they are destroying its prey base.”
6. Man-animal conflict
Bengal or Royal Bengal Tiger - 5; pix
SShukla; Chandigarh; January
2011Man-animal conflict is
another major factor that affects
the big cats. As humans move
deeper into the territory of tigers,
chances of conflict between both
sides increase many fold. Men and
livestock often become the victim
of tiger attacks. This infuriates
villagers who resort to revenge
killing.
7. Lack of protection infrastructure
Forest and wildlife do not figure on the
priority lists of states, consequently forest
departments usually suffer from the paucity
of funds. This leads to delayed disbursal of
money to the protection staff. Under
staffing, adequate numbers of arms are not
available; same is the case with vehicles
and communication equipment's. Patrolling
vehicles are sometimes grounded just
because there is no money for fuel. In
addition to this many posts are lying vacant
in the forest departments of the state and
no efforts are being made to fulfil them.
Contrary to this poachers flaunt
sophisticated arms and technology. There
are also cases of corrupt forest officials
who connive with poachers in their sinister
designs. They are said to provide
information on tigers’ location in exchange
for bribes.
8. Conviction rate and quantum of
punishment being very meagre
Catching of bigger poachers and
smugglers is neither easy nor on the
priority agenda of enforcement agencies.
The punishment stipulated in the law is
also not adequate. For instance, a person
arrested with living protected animal or its
body parts within the sanctuary gets an
imprisonment of just a year, extendable up
to six years. For those nabbed outside the
park, sanctuary or any other protected
area, the maximum punishment is three
years in jail or Rest. 25,000 fine. This
penalty is insignificant compared to the
huge profits involved.
Tourism is another factor for decline in tiger
numbers. Tourists are ever ready to pay
big money to see tigers in their natural
environment. Every state government
wants to earn money from tourism,
resultantly they often bend over backwards
to accommodate the ever-increasing
demands of hoteliers, travel agencies and
other players of the industry. As the flow of
tourists increases demand for more
accommodation, roads, highways,
electricity and water supply also increases.
This results in cutting down of trees,
fragmenting the forest tracts and forest
corridors, restricting the free movement of
animals from one forest area to another.
Corridors between tiger reserves are
important for genetic exchange and longterm survival.
For instance the Satpuda landscape in
central India is spread across 14 districts in
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and
Chhattisgarh. Around 34 per cent of this
forest cover and has 15 per cent of the
world’s tigers. However, this landscape is
10. Absence of political will
Politicians driven by vote bank politics and
ignorance regarding importance of forests
and wildlife often take wild decisions and
sometimes do not take any. This mentality
harms the entire ecosystem in general and
tiger, the apex predator, in particular. They
do not want to understand the basic fact
that health of predators determines the
health of the ecosystem which also
sustains human beings. They look for
immediate personal gains rather than the
nation as a whole. This is the reason that
there are encroachments on forest land,
poachers are being sheltered, smugglers
are thriving and enforcement is ineffective.
11. Lure for money or conservation
Funds amounting to millions of dollars are
being pumped in the field of Tiger
conservation. This has caused
mushrooming of NGOs and
conservationists who claim to be the
biggest fighters for conservation. These
organizations often struggle among
themselves to get a bigger piece of tiger
conservation pie. They most often work at
cross purposes. There are some heads of
the NGOs who even have their business
interests, like forest lodges and hotels near
tiger reserves. In such a scenario how
anyone can trust these NGOs. Continued
disappearance of tigers seems to indicate
that none of them have been very effective
in doing what is expected of them.
GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE
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The conservation endeavours in India have been primarily focused on saving tigers, which
is one of the key wildlife species in the faunal web. The major threats to tiger population
are numerous, such as poaching for trade, shrinking habitat, depletion of prey base
species, growing human population etc. The trade of tiger skins and the use of their bones
in traditional medicines especially in the Asian countries left the tiger population on the
verge of extinction. Since India and Nepal, provide habitat to about two-thirds of the
surviving tiger population in the world, these two nations became prime targets for
poaching
and
illegal
trading.
Wildlife Division in the Ministry is responsible for carrying out the activities pertaining to
Wildlife conservation with the State Governments and to provide financial and technical
assistance to them for scientific management of the wildlife resources in the country.
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It is also responsible for carrying out the events associated with wildlife research and
training of personnel involved in wildlife management through Wildlife Institute of India.
Presently Wildlife Division is headed by the Addl. Director General of Forests (Wildlife) who
is also Director, Wildlife Preservation and the Management Authority of Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES).
PROJECT TIGER
• At the beginning of 19th century, there are about
40000 tigers spread throughout in India. Till 1972, their
population depleted sharply to 1800 in complete India.
Those figures were alarm call for Indian government.
Current prime minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi took
personal interest in the matter and took some solid
steps in year 1972 to revival of tiger population in
India.
• As a result of such steps, a wildlife conservation project
was launched in 1st April, 1973 and was given name
“Project Tiger”. It was proved most successful wildlife
conservation with the passage of time and served the
purpose of its creation.