Carl R. Green - Endangered Tigers

Published in 2016 by Enslow Publishing, LLC.
101 W. 23rd Street, Suite 240, New York, NY 10011

Copyright 2016 by Enslow Publishing, LLC.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Katirgis, Jane, author.

Endangered tigers / Jane Katirgis and Carl R. Green.

pages cm. (Wildlife at risk)

Summary: Discusses tigers, why they are endangered, and how they are being helpedProvided by publisher.

Audience: Ages 11+.

Audience: Grades 7 to 8.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7660-6906-0 (library binding)

ISBN 978-0-7660-6904-6 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7660-6905-3 (6-pack)

1. TigerJuvenile literature. 2. Endangered speciesJuvenile literature. 3. TigerConservationJuvenile literature. I. Green, Carl R., author. II. Title.

QL737.C23K394 2016

599.755dc23

2015010121

Printed in the United States of America

To Our Readers: We have done our best to make sure all Web site addresses in this book were active and appropriate when we went to press. However, the author and the publisher have no control over and assume no liability for the material available on those Web sites or on any Web sites they may link to. Any comments or suggestions can be sent by e-mail to .

Portions of this book originally appeared in the book The Tiger.

Photos Credits: Aditya Singh/Moment Open/Getty Images, pp..

Cover Credits: David Soanes Photography/Moment/Getty Images (tiger); Joakim Leroy/E+/Getty images (palm leaf); Creativ Studio Heinemann/Creative (RF)/Getty Images (borage flowers); Maria Toutoudaki/ Photodisk/Getty Images (background paper texture).

TIGERS AT A GLANCE

Scientific Name

Panthera tigris. Historically, there were nine subspecies.

Endangered Subspecies (6)

Bengal (Indian), Indochinese, Siberian (Amur), Sumatran, and Malayan tigers. The South China tiger is possibly extinct in the wild because it has not been directly seen there since the 1970s.

Extinct Subspecies (3)

Caspian, Bali, and Javan tigers.

Lifespan

In the wild, 12 to 26 years; in captivity, 20 years or longer.

Adult Male:

Length: 106122 in (269.2309.9 cm)

Height: 3644 in (91.4111.8 cm)

Weight: 385570 lbs (174.6258.6 kg)

Adult Female:

Length: 97105 in (246.4266.7 cm)

Height: 3644 in (91.4111.8 cm)

Weight: 220385 lbs (99.8174.6 kg)

Pelage (Coat of Fur)

Orange-gold, black striped coat with white underbelly. White-and-black striped tigers are rare in the wild.

Gestation Period

93 to 111 days

Number of Young

Litters of two to seven cubs.

Diet

Hoofed mammals, such as deer and wild pigs.

Territory (Range)

Male Bengal tigers rule a territory of some 40 square miles (64.4 km2). Females occupy smaller ranges within the males territory.

Threats to Survival

Loss of habitat and poaching.

Current Habitat

The largest populations inhabit the forests of Southeast Asia. Smaller populations survive in the cedar forests of Northern Asia and on the island of Sumatra.

Current Population*

Todays wild tiger population is estimated at 3,200. Subspecies numbers range from 2,500 Bengal tigers to as few as 450 Siberian tigers and fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers.

Legislative Status

Most surviving tigers live in parks and reserves and are protected by endangered species laws.

*Figures represent average measurements.

chapter one

MEET PANTHERA TIGRIS

The scene is picturesque: a sleek and strong Bengal tiger begins to hunt as the late afternoon sun illuminates its golden coat. The tiger is king of its habitat, and it is as skilled at hunting as an Olympic gold-medalist is at attaining first place. The tigers prowess is no match for its small weaker prey.

Noiseless on padded feet, the tiger slips closer to a group of small deer. All at once, the deer catch the tigers scent. As they turn to run, the tiger springs into the clearing. One of the does stumbles and goes down on her knees. With two mighty bounds, the tiger is on her. Razor-sharp claws rip at the does flanks as powerful jaws close on her throat. Her windpipe crushed, the doe collapses and dies. The tiger quickly drags the carcass into the underbrush. Like most cats, the hunter keeps its kill to itself.

Predators

Watch a house cat as it stalks a mouse. Except for size and color, the cat could be a Bengal tiger stalking a swamp deer. This fact does not surprise scientists who study the cat family. All cats, from house pets to lions and tigers, belong to the family Felidae. House cats (Felis catus) and tigers (Panthera tigris), however, are on separate branches of the family tree.

Despite some similarities, tigers are not closely related to the long-extinct saber-toothed tiger (Smilodon fatalis). The tigers closest cousins in the genus Panthera are lions, leopards, and jaguars. All four species can be traced to a long-ago ancestor, the Proailurus lemanensis. The fossil record shows that tigers have been around for some two million years.

Bengal tigers, native to India, are like other subspecies of tigers in that they are keen hunters.

Fast Fact!

The Malayan tiger used to be considered the same as the Indochinese tiger. But DNA tests in 2004 showed it to be its own unique subspecies.

In captivity, tigers and lions canand dointerbreed. A female tiger that mates with a lion produces cubs called ligers. If the father is a tiger and the mother a lion, the cubs are called tigons. Like the mule, these crossbreeds cannot typically produce offspring. In Californias Shambala Preserve, however, a tigon named Noelle once surprised the experts. The tigon gave birth to a cub sired by a male tiger. Actress Tippi Hedren, the preserves founder, says that Noelle spoke both lion and tiger but spoke only tiger to her ti-tigon cub.

Legends of the Tiger

Over the years, the tiger has been both admired and feared. In the 1700s, an Indian sultans royal banner proclaimed, The Tiger Is God.

Folktales, though, tend to describe the tiger in less awesome terms. One such tale, told in Thailand, explains how the tiger got its stripes. Long ago, when all tigers were a solid orange-gold color, there came a time of heavy rains. During a break in the downpour, a hungry tiger pounced on an old woodcutter.

The old man thought fast. A great flood is coming! he cried. To save ourselves, we must build a bamboo raft. The slow-thinking tiger agreed, and the two went to work. When they were done, the old man pointed to the sky. The rains are coming, he cried. I better tie you to the raft so you cant fall off.

The tiger did as it was told. After roping the great beast to the raft, the old man fled. When at last the tiger realized that it had been tricked, it took the animal a full day to break free. As each rope broke, it left a ragged black scar on the tigers fur. Ever since, the legend says, tigers have worn black stripes on their orange-gold coats.

Fast Fact!

Tigers are the largest species of the cat family.

Tigers in Danger

Folktales aside, the tiger is surely not slow-witted. In real life, these powerful predators rule their wild domains, much as lions rule the African plains. A full-grown tiger can take down prey as large as water buffalo and small elephants. Only human beings, armed with axes, plows, and rifles, have been able to turn the tiger into an endangered species.