I happened to watch the Tiger-24 documentary the other day and this topic has been on my mind ever since. Beautifully scripted ( by Warren Pereira) and a good experience. All of the information presented in this blog is based on what I have learned recently.
A little late
I never realized how they are playing an important role in keeping the balance of nature. I guess I may have studied the food chain and related topics during school time, but it never got my attention. (That is the problem of education at this time).
The King of the Jungle is just a myth and a story for the children. And please remember that Lions are primarily found in savannas, grasslands, and open woodlands.
Right now Tiger is my favorite animal until it attacks me or someone I know.
Subspecies
9 Types of Tigers: 6 Endangered, 3 Extinct
There are currently six subspecies of tigers on Earth: South China, Malayan, Indochinese, Siberian, Bengal, and Sumatran tigers. All of these subspecies are classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to various human-related factors, including habitat loss, poaching, and conflicts with humans.
The Bali, Caspian, and Javan tiger subspecies are now extinct due to various factors such as habitat loss and hunting, with the last recorded sightings of these subspecies occurring in the 1930s, 1950s, and 1970s, respectively.
What a tiger!
Tigers are the largest cat species in the world.
They are apex predators, which means they have no natural predators in the wild.
They are solitary and territorial animals.
They have excellent night vision and they are good swimmers.
A tiger's roar can be heard up to two to three kilometers away or so I read.
The stripes on a tiger are unique to each individual.
Tigers can reach top speeds of 49 to 65 kilometers per hour (However, they can only sustain this speed over short distances).
An adult tiger needs between 60 km2 and 100 km2 with enough food, water, and shelter resources.
They can weigh up to 300 kg and have a length of up to 10 ft.
Tigers have been known to engage in a behavior called "neck biting," where they grab their prey by the neck and kill it by crushing its spinal cord.
Tigers are carnivores and their diet primarily consists of large prey animals such as deer, wild pigs, buffalo, and antelope.
Tigers have excellent memory and can remember the location of prey for several days after they have killed it.
There are some man-eating tigers out there and T-24 is one of them.
Their population declined during the past 100 years, ie; from 1,00,000 to around 4,500. And a few in human captivity!
They have been revered and feared by humans for centuries, and their image has been used in many cultures and religions.
The reality of the damage
So, basically what it means tigers play an important role in balancing the ecosystem. When tigers disappear from an ecosystem, it can have a ripple effect on the entire ecosystem, leading to the loss of other species and changes in the landscape. So imagine the effect on our nature when it declined by approximately 95.5% over the past 100 years, with poaching, deforestation, and human-wildlife conflicts.
Watch the below video and you can guess the damage created by the feudalists.
Tiger reserves
Governments created Tiger reserves to prevent this damage. These include reducing human-tiger conflict, conducting scientific research on tigers to help inform conservation strategies, promoting tiger-friendly policies, and monitoring tiger numbers, population trends, and threats to tigers and their habitats.
Wildlife science says that you are conserving a species, not individuals.
Tigers are crucial to maintaining healthy ecosystems. As apex predators, they control the populations of prey animals like deer and wild boars, preventing overgrazing and promoting the survival of other species in the food chain.
Protecting tiger habitats has many benefits beyond preserving the species itself. Ecotourism draws visitors and income to local communities, reducing pressure on natural resources. Additionally, forests where tigers live act as carbon sinks, helping mitigate the effects of climate change. By preserving tiger habitats, we can promote sustainable development and ensure the health of our planet for future generations.
A point from T-24
From T-24 documentary: T-24 was ultimately removed because the core area of the tiger reserves is compromised, and these small remaining wild areas where tigers survive are managed by departments that must strike a balance between the tiger's needs, the needs of the forest staff, their families, and the villagers. In order to prevent conflict between tigers and humans. We must provide safe solutions for villagers entering the little remaining tiger habitat while empowering forest staff with safer patrolling protocols.
Without these changes, attacks on humans will increase. And with that, an increasing number of tigers will be removed from the wild and put in zoos. And this is a tragedy for future generations because there's nothing quite as beautiful, inspirational, and important as a tiger in the wild. People travel from all over the world to India to see the last wild tigers. They admire them and photograph them as they would works of art. To take tigers away from the wild will be to take a piece of inspiration away from the world. To thrive, wild tigers require large forest expanses. This means that saving tigers also save the forests, which in turn fight climate change, curb soil erosion, purify water, and maintain species diversity. If we can give tigers a sacred place in the world, we can make the world a better place for all species, including mankind.