Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Extinct tiger


As you may have already know tigers in are one of the most endangered species of our time. To raise your awareness about the seriousness of this situation, and help spread the word about how real this statement is to becoming a reality, we’re going to list some of the already extinct tigers to give everyone a reason to care. This is no joke people, if things continue as they do its possible that our kids and their kids will not have the joy and privelege of seeing a real life tiger.

The Javan Tiger
To start things off lets talk about the Javan tiger which has been completely eradicated since the 1980’s. Originating from the Indonesian island of Java, these tigers were relatively small in size with the average male weighing just 130 kilograms (Female was around 90 Kilograms). These tigers were destroyed due to heavy hunting and a shrinking jungle habitat (again thanks to ever expanding business and human needs).

The Javan tiger population was down to around 24 tigers by the 1950’s and only 12-13 by the mid 1970’s. Despite some reports suggesting the sighting of one or more of these tigers in the Javan jungle there is no official confirmation or proof of these reports. As far as research goes, it’s thought that the last three Javan tigers alive died in 1979.

The Bali Tiger
The Bali tigers which are also extinct were residents of the Bali island in Indonesia. No official reports of their existence have popped up after the year 1937. In fact, the last time one of these tigers was seen was when it was hunted down and killed in 1925. Researchers waited anxiously for over a decade after that before losing hope of finding any Bali tigers and declaring them officially extinct in 1937.

In terms of size Bali tigers were the smallest of them all, with a total body weight of around 90 kilograms for males and 70 kilograms for females these tigers were amply suited to their jungle environment. In terms of looks they had a short fur which was dark and a smaller number of sparsely distributed stripes.

The Caspian Tiger
Caspian tigers (sometimes known as Persian tigers) once existed in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and other neighboring countries. It is believed that Caspian tigers were last seen alive in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Again despite several reports having been made about spotting them nothing has been officially confirmed leaving us with yet another extinct species.

Caspian tigers in terms of looks had a thick fur, and were once again small in size with relatively small ears. They used to breed mainly in spring time and were not very fond of contact with humans (who once again contributed to their extinction). It’s believed that the last Caspian tiger was either shot dead in Iran or in Northern Iraq in the early 1960’s.

Final Words
We hope that after reading the above you are fully aware of the scale of the situation. Tigers are becoming extinct, one by one each subspecies is dissappearing never to be seen on this earth again. This is not only disturbing but extremely astonishing that in this day and age with all the technology and means to keep a species alive this continues to happen.

Blame it on God, blame it on humans, blame it on aliens the bottom line is that the extinction of tigers is on the horizon. The exact extinction date of this species cannot be predicted but what’s already quite clear is that it’s approaching very soon.

Despite such negative sentiments and the real loss of many of the tiger species there are still a few that can be saved and this is where our efforts should be foccussed. To keep any species alive its more than just keeping them in zoos but actively protecting their environments and breaking down the red tape that prevents the implementation of laws and policies outlawing the poaching of these helpless cats.

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