Endangered Tiger

What's a tiger?

Although I'm sure we all know the answer to this question, I will explain some defining characteristics of tigers anyway.

Unlike most big cats (and frankly most mammalian predators), tigers rely on sight and sound before smell when they hunt.

Adult male tigers can weigh up to 600 lbs and can consume 88 lbs of meat in a sitting. Typically, they hunt alone and live in solitude. Few connections with other tigers are made other than mothers and offspring. They will roam a large area chosen based on how much prey lives there, and will mark their territory fairly often.



Why are they endangered?

Poaching and killing of tigers contributes to their critical situation. In about a century, 97% of tigers died off, leaving their population just over 3,000.


Habitat loss also remains a severe issue for tigers. Because they require a large territory and rarely interact with others of their species, their shrinking habitats have devastating effects. Their hunting grounds are constantly reduced in size, and they are forced to compete with urbanization, a difficult task to say the least.



Why should we help?

Tigers are a magnificent symbol of ferocity, power, and strength. Imagine a world without these creatures. How many schools and companies feature a tiger as a mascot or logo? Tigers have and always will be symbolic and majestic, and losing these famous cats would reduce a fear-inducing animal of the wild into an old legend.



How can we help?

Many, many organizations help by setting up cameras to catch movement to monitor tigers and end poaching, as well as to stop the reduction of hunting grounds. There is no shortage of causes for stopping illegal trade of tiger parts and prevention of habitat loss, but they still need funding and help. Here is a short list of them:

World Wildlife Fund
Wildlife Trust of India
Panthera
www.savetigersnow.org/
www.tigers.org
National Zoo

Another way to help is by spreading word about the critical condition of tiger populations. You could start your own awareness program or simply share this blog with literally everyone you know. It's not hard.

Thank you very much for reading, but seriously, send this to your grandma, your sister-in-law, your best friend, your best friend's gardener, your best friend's gardener's grandma and her sister-in-law, and your best friend's gardener's grandma's sister-in-law's dog's vet's wife.

That is all.


Sources:

World Wildlife Fund (this foundation is amazing):
https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/tiger