Possibly as few as 3,200 left in the wild
Facts & Figures
- Tigers are found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia (Sumatra), Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Russia (Far East), Thailand and Vietnam. View map
- The 6 living subspecies of tigers are: Amur, Bengal, Indochinese, Malayan, South China and Sumatran.
- The Bali, Caspian and Javan tiger subspecies have all become extinct.
- Wild tiger numbers have fallen by about 95% over the past 100 years.
- Tigers survive in 40% less area than they occupied a decade ago.
Tigers are the largest of all the Asian big cats, at the top the food chain, and are one of the most culturally important and beautiful animals on this planet. However, they are also among the most vulnerable and threatened species on Earth.
For over a million years, the “King of the Jungle” lorded over a territory stretching from eastern Turkey to the Russian Far East, with its home extending northward to Siberia and southward into Bali. But by the end of the last century, the Bali, Javan and Caspian tigers were extinct. Tragically, the remaining six subspecies risk the same fate as the Javan and Caspian because of illegal wildlife trade, poaching, and conflict with people.
If we do not respond to the plight of wild tigers and the needs of the communities that share their home with tigers—most of which is outside protected wildlife areas – we will witness the loss of one of the world’s most irreplaceable natural wonders of our lifetime.
Subspecies
Three tiger subspecies - the Bali, Javan, and Caspian - have become extinct in the past 70 years. The six remaining subspecies - Amur, Bengal, Indochinese, Malayan, South China, and Sumatran - live only in Asia, and all are threatened by poaching and habitat lossWWF(17 April 2010)
Buzz
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Do you have a tough time getting out of bed? Does your mother have to scream to make you rise and shine? Don’t believe anyone who says you don’t like getting out of bed because you are lazy — scientists have found a better explanation. It is because you are not getting enough sunlight. A recent study has found that since most children these days are not exposed to much natural light — especially morning light — their body clocks aren’t functioning well. Morning light has a predominance of blue light waves, which trigger the release of a substance called melatonin, a hormone that indicates to the body when it’s time to sleep. No melatonin means no sleep signal. So you go to sleep late and wake up late. The bad news? Such children also tend to perform badly in tests. There seems to be some truth in the early to bed and early to rise proverb after all! |
As all of you know Antarctica is the place to go to if you want to watch penguins. A few decades hence, that may no more be the case. The main inhabitants of Antarctica then might very well be jellyfish. That is because the melting sea ice is wiping out whole populations of krill, the main food of the penguins. Smaller crustaceans known as copepods are replacing them. The copepods are too small for penguins but ideal for jellyfish and similar tentacled predators.