Tiger Subspecies Overview
There are 6 remaining subspecies of tigers in the world. Protecting them is very important both in the wild and in captivity. It isn’t enough for these animals to merely survive only in captivity. We need to make sure they are able to continue surviving out there in the wild as well.Tigers have evolved for almost two millions years and are able to adapt to a variety of different things in their environment. Yet when their environment is destroyed and large numbers of them are killed they don’t have a chance.
The South China Tiger
The South China Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis) is the one that most researchers are the most worried about. This particular species is believed to possibly be extinct over the next decade or even earlier. Hopefully the efforts in place will help to prevent that from happing. Right now this animal is listed on the top ten of endangered animals which isn’t a good sign as to their future though.
The Siberian Tiger
The largest and most well known is the Siberian Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica). This particular subspecies is only found in far east Siberia where they are protected.
The biggest problem for them is their own genetics. They are closely related even with those that aren’t decedents of each other. This makes effective breeding even in captivity difficult and that can be a natural threat to this particular species of tiger.
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Tiger Species Facts
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The Sumatran Tiger
The Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) is the smallest of all tiger subspecies. There are about 500 or less of them left in the world.
There are aggressive efforts in place to help protect them and to get their numbers back up. However, these efforts have really only been in place since 2007. The fact that they are only found in Sumatra also means that they continue to be victims of poachers and hunters because the laws can’t always be enforced there as strictly as they should be.
The Bengal Tiger
One of the larger subspecies of tigers is the Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris). They have the highest numbers when it comes to them in the wild too with about 1,400 of them. While they have two or three times more population than the other species they are still at a very high risk of being extinct so they are currently classified as being endangered as the other subspecies.
The Malayan Tiger
The Malayan Tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni) is one that we know the least about. Until 2004 they weren’t even recognized as their own species. They too are endangered with only about 600-800 of them remaining in the wild. They often conflict with humans due to the fact that they prey on livestock when it is readily available.
The Indochinese Tiger
The last subspecies is the Indochinese Tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti) and only few hundreds of them remain in the wild. Their main diet consists of wild pigs, deer, and even cattle thanks to the many people that have invaded their natural habitat to make their own living quarters. In the 1930’s there were more than 2,000 of them but open hunting for them as well as the destruction of their habitat has changed all of that.
Conservation Efforts
There are many efforts around the world in place to help protect these different subspecies of tigers. Educating people of all ages about them as well as their role in the ecosystem is very important. That way people can discover why keeping these tigers alive is extremely important. While there are not precise information, there are approximately between 3,062 and 5,066 tigers remaining alive out there in the world today.
This includes both those in the wild and in captivity. Reaching out to do your part will help to ensure that these animals are able to continue being part of our world. We definitely need to see these species of tigers living for millions more years not less than a decade which is possible if changes don’t occur now because we simply are running out of time.
Source: wikipedia
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