Delayne+report+on+tigers

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[|**Tigers**] [| are the biggest cats in the world. They live in wet, humid and hot jungles as well as icy cold forests. There are five different kinds or subspecies of tiger which are still alive today. These tigers are called Siberian, Indochinese, South China, Bengal, and Sumatran. Their Latin name is //Panther Tigris//. Tigers are an endangered species; only about 4,870 to 7,300 tigers are left in the wild. Three tiger subspecies, which are now extinct, are: the Bali, Japan, and Caspian tigers. They have become so over the last 70 years...] [|Pictures: (38 Kb JPEG) ] [|The tiger is the largest member of the cat family, with the Amour (Siberian) tiger weighing as much as 360 kg (790 lb). Although it is found in a variety of habitats, the tiger always requires dense vegetative cover, an adequate supply of large prey, and access to a reliable source of water. The principal prey of the tiger consists of various species of deer and wild pigs, usually in the 50 - 200 kg (110 - 440 lb) range. These include sambar, chital,, red deer, rusa deer and wild boar. It will also take young and rhinos and smaller species such as monkeys, birds, reptiles and fish.] [|Tigers are generally or where they are undisturbed, but they become in disturbed habitats or near human settlements. They do not readily cross large open areas. Although tigers are usually solitary (except for females with cubs), males and females exhibit a high degree of social tolerance towards one another. A male tiger usually establishes a that does not overlap with the of other males but does overlap the] [| of 2 - 3 females (up to 7). Females establish territories that generally (but not always) do not overlap each other. The range of an individual tiger can vary from 50 sq km (20 sq mi) in an area with high prey densities (e.g. some reserves in) to 4000 sq km (1500 sq mi) in Siberia.] [[http://images.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1283/1196422012_35ed293706.jpg&imgrefurl=http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm%3Ffuseaction%3Duser.viewprofile%26friendid%3D54614664&h=480&w=382&sz=69&hl=en&start=10&usg=__yA-3BWHVXD6ZZtg-niOCFJ9mgNo=&tbnid=pc6cl_mlv-x-EM:&tbnh=129&tbnw=103&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcute%2Bbabytigers%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den|The tiger formerly occurred from across southern Asia and most of to the. The Southeast Asian range included peninsular But the abundance and distribution of tigers has diminished substantially since the beginning of the 20th century. 3 of the 8 subspecies of tiger, the Bali, Caspian and Javan tigers, have become extinct since the 1950's. Currently, the tiger occurs only in scattered populations from to and in (Sumatra), the Russian Far East, and possibly in and The tiger is extinct in most of its former range.

Commercial poaching (especially to obtain various parts of the tiger's body for Oriental medicine), a declining prey base, and loss of habitat are the principal threats to the tiger at present. ]]    [[http://images.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1283/1196422012_35ed293706.jpg&imgrefurl=http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm%3Ffuseaction%3Duser.viewprofile%26friendid%3D54614664&h=480&w=382&sz=69&hl=en&start=10&usg=__yA-3BWHVXD6ZZtg-niOCFJ9mgNo=&tbnid=pc6cl_mlv-x-EM:&tbnh=129&tbnw=103&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcute%2Bbabytigers%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den| ]]  ===__  [|Tidbits]   __=== [|*** In until the late 1950's, the tiger had a status lower than that of the wild pig, rat or squirrel. It was to be destroyed on sight by every possible means due to its perceived threat. (*** In many villagers don't understand why the law protects animals such as tigers (and and), which they consider to be pests to their crops and livestock, particularly since no one uses them for food or other purposes. The villagers believe that their lives and the welfare of their families are more important than "saving wildlife.")] [|*** Some cultures (e.g. in and tolerate the killing of people by tigers to an extent. In fact, the tiger is the national animal of (and). This is despite the fact that between 1948 and 1986, 814 people were killed by tigers in Bangladesh's]   [|*** The use of infra-red cameras to survey animals has been applied in the National Park in Sumatra. In six weeks of nine individual tigers were photographed. Surprisingly, these tigers were not in remote forest but on the edge of the park, close to villages and a major logging operation. (*** In a landmark case, four farmers Ins Jillian Province received compensation for three cows killed and eaten by an Amour (Siberian) tiger. They won a lawsuit against the local government, which paid out in accordance with a provincial law, passed in 1996, that compensation would be paid to those whose crops or domestic animals were damaged by wild animals. One of the farmers, Li Yi, said he was glad tigers had protection, but people’s interests must be guaranteed at the same time.)] [|*** **[**Editor's Note: **Do not try this at home!** While sleeping in their hut, an Indian farmer, his wife and three children awoke to find a tiger sleeping with them. The tiger was "sleeping like a baby." The family crept out quietly without waking the tiger. They contacted local Forest Department officials, who tranquilized the tiger and released it in the forest. *** Tigers can adapt themselves to a great variety of situations, ]]