WHY SHOULD WE SAVE TIGER?

Saving the tiger means saving mankind..

Not only is tiger a beautiful animal but it is also the indicator of the forest's health. Saving the tiger means we save the forest since tiger cannot live in places where trees have vanished and in turn secure food and water for all.

If we make sure tigers live, we have to make sure that deer, antelope and all other animals that the tiger eats (its prey base) live. To make sure that these herbivores live, we must make sure that all the trees, grass and other plants that these prey animals need for food are protected. In this way, the whole forest gets saved! Saving the tiger means saving its entire forest kingdom with all the other animals in it.

Also forests catch and help store rainwater and protect soils. In this way we protect our rivers and recharge groundwater sources. Areas with less trees lead to floods, killing people and destroying homes. It takes away the precious soil, leaving behind a wasteland. The soil jams up our lakes and dams, reducing their ability to store water. By destroying the tiger's home, we not only harm tigers, but also ourselves.

The tiger thus becomes the symbol for the protection of all species on our earth since it is at the top of the food chain. This is why we sometimes call the tiger, an apex predator, an indicator of our ecosystem's health

The Tiger Poem by William Blake

Tiger Tiger burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye.
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat.
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp.
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears
And watered heaven with their tears:
Did he smile His work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?

Tiger Tiger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Poem about tiger cub

She stood on the edge

overlooking the valley.

Her elegant frame silhouetted

in the moonlit night.

Her intense eyes,

Pregnant with grief and pain.

Her gaze,

Penetrating into the quite lugubrious abyss.

The maelstrom inside her,

resounding in the stillness of the night.

Nothing is moving, not even the dewdrops

hanging precariously from the leaves.

A small cub rests in peace

cuddled between her paws.

It’s body cold as ice.

They had been there together

just one night

both mother and child.

Slowly she slumps beside the lifeless child

and licks the furry body.

Tucking it closer with her paws

she embraces it for One last time.

The forest watches quiescent.

Javan Tiger

The Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) was limited to the Indonesian island of Java. It now seems likely that this subspecies became extinct in the 1980s, as a result of hunting and habitat destruction, but the extinction of this subspecies was extremely probable from the 1950s onwards (when it is thought that fewer than 25 tigers remained in the wild). The last confirmed specimen was sighted in 1979, but there were a few reported sightings during the 1990s. With a weight of 100–141 kg for males and 75–115 kg for females, the Javan tiger was one of the smaller subspecies, approximately the same size as the Sumatran tiger.

Bali Tiger

The Bali Tiger (Panthera tigris balica) was limited to the island of Bali. They were the smallest of all tiger subspecies, with a weight of 90–100 kg in males and 65–80 kg in females. These tigers were hunted to extinction—the last Balinese tiger is thought to have been killed at Sumbar Kima, West Bali on 27 September 1937, this was an adult female. No Balinese tiger was ever held in captivity. The tiger still plays an important role in Balinese Hinduism.

South China Tiger

The South China Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis), also known as the Amoy or Xiamen tiger, most endangered tiger subspecies and even big cats species in the world, and is listed as one of the 10 most endangered animals in the world.

One of the smaller species of tiger, the length of the South China tiger ranges from 2.2–2.6 m (87–100 in) for both males and females. Males weigh between 127 and 177 kg (280 and 390 lb) while females weigh between 100 and 118 kg (220 and 260 lb).

From 1983 to 2007, no South China tigers were sighted. In 2007 a farmer spotted a tiger and handed in photographs to the authorities as proof. The photographs in question, however, were later exposed as fake, copied from a Chinese calendar and photoshopped, and the “sighting” turned into a massive scandal.

1977 Chinese authorities have passed a law that prohibits the hunting of wild tirove, but this may be have too late to save this tigers subspecies, since it is possible that they are already extinct in the wild. There are currently 59 known captive South China tigers, all within China, but these are known to be descended from only six animals. Thus, the genetic diversity required to maintain the subspecies may no longer exist. Currently, there are breeding efforts to reintroduce these tigers to the wild.

The main reason for their extinction is excessive hunting, for the purpose of traditional Chinese medicine. Unfortunately, tiger body parts are still used in Chinese medicine, and the government is poorly controlled this branch of medicine.

Sumatran tiger

The Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) liv only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and are extremely endangered.

It is the smallest of all living tiger subspecies, adult males in the wild reach a weight between 100–140 kg (220–310 lb), and females 75–110 kg (170–240 lb). Their small size is adaptation to the thick, dense forests of the island of Sumatra, where they live, as well as the smaller-sized prey.

Estimated population in the wild is between 400 and 500, seen chiefly in the island's national parks. Recent genetic research has shown the presence of unique genetic markers, indicating that it may develop into a separate species, if it does not go extinct. This has led to suggestions that Sumatran tigers should have greater priority for conservation than any other subspecies.

While habitat destruction is the main threat to existing tiger population (logging continues even in the supposedly protected national parks), 66 tigers were recorded as being shot and killed between 1998 and 2000, or nearly 20% of the total population.