Unheard Roar

Known by the scientific name Panthera tigris, tigers are the biggest cats which is both admired and feared by the world. Well! Why won’t we admire such a majestic creature?

That look with pride

They are the national animal of India, Bangladesh, Malaysia and South Korea. This giant charismatic animal have their stripes on the skin as well. They usually hunt alone at night with speeds up to around 65KM/H. It is said that the saliva of the tigers are antiseptic in nature and their bones have high medicinal values. 
But the saddest part is that they have been marked endangered. In the beginning of the 20^th century, the tiger population was around 100,000 and now we stand with a less than some 5000 tigers around the globe.

SUBSPECIES OF TIGERS

There were so many subspecies of Panthera tigris (Tigers). Lots of the subspecies are extinct, while some are critically endangered and few remain endangered.

1.      Bali Tiger (Panthera tigris balica)
       EXTINCT

Trapped Bali tiger

Balinese tiger which resided on the Indonesian island of Bali was said to be hunted purposefully to extinction due to a cultural belief that tigers represented evil and destruction in 1940s.

2.      Javan Tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica)
        EXTINCT

Javan Tiger

This extinct tiger subspecies was native to the Indonesian island of Java

3.      Caspian Tiger (Panthera tigris virgata)
       EXTINCT

They were one of the biggest cats to have ever lived. They inhabited around the Caspian sea.

4.      Wanhsien Tiger (Panthera tigris acutidens)

EXTINCT

Before extinction they were found in Asia

5.      Ngandong Tiger (Panthera tigris soloensis)
       EXTINCT

Ngandong tiger

They have inhabited the Sundaland region of Indonesia

6.      Trinil Tiger (Panthera tigris trinilensis)
       EXTINCT

Trinil Tiger

They lived in the locality of Trinil of Java Island in Indonesia

7.      Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae)
       CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

sumatran tiger

They inhabit the Indonesian island of Sumatra. World has an estimated population of around 500 Sumatran tigers

8.      Malayan Tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni)
       CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

Malayan tiger

They reside around the southern and central parts of Malay Peninsula. Malayan tigers stand with an estimated population of 300 in the world.

9.      South China Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis)
       CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

South China tiger in action

They are found in the southern China

1 Siberian Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica)
    ENDANGERED

Growling Siberian tiger

They are found in Russia with a total population of 562.

1  Indochinese Tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti)
    ENDANGERED

Indochinese tiger

They are found in Myanmar, Thailand, Lao, Vietnam, and Southwestern China. This tiger subspecies is considered extinct in Cambodia now. Total estimated population of Indochinese tigers was 342.

1   Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) 
      ENDANGERED

Bengal Tiger

This subspecies has the largest population of around 3800 in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Bhutan is home to 103 Bengal tigers. This subspecies is the national animal of both India and Bangladesh. Bengal tigers have a recessive colour variant of white tigers.They are extinct in Pakistan and China.

WHY WE NEED TO SAVE OUR TIGERS?

We all feel that tigers are strong enough to get their own food and will definitely survive well in the woods. But there are so many issues tigers have been fighting for ages and very unfortunately most of them lost the battles and left this world forever. Lots of them are already extinct now and so many are on the verge of getting extinct. Perhaps we are the only ones who can stop this because it was we and our forefathers who caused this pathetic condition for them.

Forest degradation causing their habitat fragmentation was one main reason. It is said that a single tiger need 25000 acres of forests as they prey on the herbivorous animals which means there should be abundant forest cover. And so presence of tiger in the forest denotes a healthy environment.

The next main reason for the dwindling number of tigers in the forest is poaching. Due to high market value of the parts of the tigers (Bones and Skin), they were poached heavily which drastically reduced their population. WWF works to enforce zero tolerance for tiger poaching across Asia under the mission ZERO POACHING.

Retaliatory Killings is pointed out as another reason for tiger endangerment. I read somewhere that tigers do not normally view human as prey. They attack human only if they feel threatened by our presence. This is not my judgment, but this seemed to be true as I heard so many incidences. Tigers don’t prey humans.

CURRENTLY TIGERS ARE BEING TRAPPED, SKINNED AND PUSHED OUT OF THEIR HOME. SAVE OUR TIGERS!