The TIGERS are wild animals and the largest cats in the world. They are strong, ferocious and agile animals that live up to 20-25 years of age. Their scientific name is PANTHERA TIGRIS but they are commonly known as tigers. As of December 2019, only about 4000 tigers are left in the world. The tiger has been recognized as ENDANGERED and placed in the Red List by IUCN.
DID YOU KNOW Other members from the family of cats include lions, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, lynxes and pumas. They are much bigger than the cats we know but only lions can grow as big as tigers.
INTRODUCTION | 1
The tiger is known to be a beautiful and majestic animal. It has a bright REDDISH ORANGE FUR and BLACK VERTICAL STRIPES on it. The underparts, the inner sides of the limbs, the cheeks, and a large spot over each eye are white.
The tiger’s orange and black stripes help break up the cat's shape and size and BLENDS WITH THE TREES AND TALL GRASSES. This makes it difficult to be spotted by the prey while hunting for food. Tigers are large cats and can grow up to 3-4 METERS long and 300 KILOGRAMS in weight. It is a very strong animal. It has long, SHARP TEETH and POWERFUL CLAWS.
WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE? | 2
Tigers are CARNIVOROUS ANIMALS which means they eat other animals for food. A tiger usually HUNTS ALONE and preys on a variety of animals such as DEER, WILD PIGS and FISHES. It avoids attacking animals larger than itself, but it may sometimes attack ELEPHANTS and ADULT WATER BUFFALO.
When a tiger comes across human societies and villages, it may take cattle such as COWS, GOATS, SHEEP and PIGS. The tiger is an intelligent animal and it hides it’s kill after eating it. It DOES NOT eat humans.
WHAT DO THEY EAT?| 3
Tigers live in GRASSLANDS and wide varieties of thick FORESTS such as evergreen forests, dry forests, deciduous forests and rain forests, away from human societies. DID YOU KNOW Tigers have sharp claws and big paws that help them to climb trees and swim through water.
Tigers can be found in: • • • • • • •
INDIA INDONESIA RUSSIA THAILAND MALAYSIA NEPAL BHUTAN
WHERE DO TIGERS LIVE? | 24
It is estimated that there were 50,000-80,000 tigers 100 years ago. Now there are only about 4000 left. Tigers are associated with power for a long time. So they have been KILLED BY HUMANS on a large scale for their beautiful fur.
They are illegally hunted by poachers and their teeth and bones are used in making jewellery. Tiger populations are also reducing due to loss of habitat by DEFORESTATION. Their forests are being cut down by humans for wood and natural resources. The rapid CLIMATE CHANGE has caused the sea levels to rise which reduced the amount of land available to them.
WHY ARE THEY ENDANGERED? | 5
India accounts for about 3400 tigers. India declared it the NATIONAL ANIMAL and launched PROJECT TIGER in 1973. Efforts are being made to increase the tiger population even more by making wildlife sanctuaries and national parks for them.
ORGANISATIONS/GROUPS HELPING TIGERS: • World Wide Fund for Nature • Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) • Wildlife First • Tiger Research and Conservation Trust (TRACT) WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES/NATIONAL PARKS: • Corbett • Kaziranga • Sariska • Nagarhole • Sunderbans • Tadoba • Rathambore • Dudhwa
WHAT CAN BE DONE? | 6
Tigers play a very important role in MAINTAINING BALANCE IN NATURE. It keeps the prey population in check and the food they eat. If the tigers are not saved in time, they will become extinct. DID YOU KNOW The common house cat we see around us also belongs to the same family as the tigers – Felidae. This means tigers are just regular cats but bigger in size.
WHAT CAN YOU DO? • Understand the importance of tigers • Understand that they do not hurt humans unless attacked first • Be aware of the organizations that have projects for tiger preservation • Create awareness among more people about the issue • Donate to organizations that organizations that have projects for tiger preservation • Participate in awareness campaigns and campaigns against animal cruely