TIGERS BY MARÍA ESPINOSA
Tigers are the biggest members of the feline family. All of them are native from Asia, and they can live in differents habitats, but a 90% of their native land has been destroyed by human activity, mainly deforestation, in only ten years.
Nowadays, there are three species of tiger completely extinct and six of them in danger of extinction.
The Bali tiger disappeared in 1940, the Java tiger in 1970 and the Caspian tiger in 2003.
The most numerous one is the Bengal tiger, and it lives in India, Nepal and Burma. There are two mutations of this subspecies, the White tiger and the Golden one. The white tiger has a beautiful white fur and blue eyes and the Golden tiger has yellow fur.
They are solitary animals, they hunt alone at night and mark their territory so their rivals can not come in. They usually eat deers and other big animals.
The main threats are two, poaching and conflicts with humans over the territory. This poaching is motivated by the illegal sale of products obtained as decorative objects and «medicines» although they have no proven efficacy.
In addition, their habitat is severely damaged by the cutting down of trees and the invasion of humans in their territories.
Fortunately, since 1970, India established several reservations through Project Tiger, which helped stabilize its number. In 1972, the Wildlife Conservation Law was passed, which allows the government to take measures for its conservation.
animal kingdom 