By AmandaREO
Weighing about 220-660 pounds, with their height about 6-10 feet, tigers are the largest cat species and the third largest carnivore in the world. Their coat is breathtakingly beautiful, varying in orange, black, brown, and white stripes. No two tigers have the same patter on their fur, much like no two humans have the same fingerprint. They're tails are about three feet long, helping them balance when making tight turns.
Tigers roam the Tropical rainforests, evergreen forests, temperate forests, mangrove swamps, grasslands, and savannas of Asia, Africa, and India. They hunt alone, just like they generally live alone, relying on sound and smell. Tigers can jump 20-30 feet because of their hind legs, which is helpful when hunting. They eat about 80 pounds of meat every day, and don't eat all their prey in one sitting. Tigers are also powerful swimmers, with an overall love for water. For example, baby tigers play in streams and adults have been known to lounge in water.
Speaking of baby tigers, female tigers give birth to two to three helpless tiger babies after a four month pregnancy, and are basically supermoms until the tigers reach the age of two.
That's just a meer skim of the surface. Tigers are positively amazing, but on a much deeper level as well.
Tigers are integral to us and to their ecosystems. Tigers are apex predators, so their hunting is important to keep their prey from overpopulating. Their ecosystems, which they are a key part of, sustain us with water, food, and health.
Tigers have lost about 95% of their historical range because of us. Forests have been cut down for wood and plantations, forcing tigers to venture out of their home territory, becoming more vulnerable to poaching. Climate Change also destroys land and prey, which is vital for tigers' survival.
Get ready to want to punch something.
Captive tigers and tiger farms are a thing. Breeding tigers for human enjoyment is a thing. Forcing them to live in cramped cages. Stripping away their beloved freedom is a thing. There are about 8,000 tigers being held in more than 200 centers in Asia. These farms sustain the demand of tiger parts, and supply many people and places that are unfit to care for tigers.
And the last threat we'll focus on today is poaching. Poaching is the biggest threat to tigers, because people want money and other people will pay big money for the supposed remedies that tiger parts make. Although we'll get more into poaching another time, we'll give you a brief overview here: poaching is an illegal wildlife crime where endangered and/or exotic animals are killed by (oftentimes) organized crime groups, taking only certain parts of the animal and leaving the rest. It's an embarrassment to humanity, and it is killing many brilliant animals that are needed in this world. Somehow this terrible practice is thriving. A lot of countries have orchestrated laws to stop poaching, which is good, but not isn't enough. Tigers, elephants, rhinos, lemurs, gorillas, and too many more are the victims of this awful crime.
When will humans learn that what we do has consequences? When will we learn that we can't just go around killing things? When will we learn that this has to stop?
It has to be now. Tigers are too important to be brought down by such terrible people, and such a horrific crime.
Thank you for reading. Go to this link to find out more: https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/tiger
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