duminică, 7 aprilie 2013
The liger is a hybrid cross between a male lion (Panthera leo) and a tigress (Panthera tigris). Thus, it has parents with the same genus but of different species. It is distinct from the similar hybrid tiglon. It is the largest of all known extant felines.
Ligers enjoy swimming, which is a characteristic of tigers, and are very sociable like lions. Ligers exist only in captivity because the habitats of the parental species do not overlap in the wild. Historically, when the Asiatic Lion was prolific, the territories of lions and tigers did overlap and there are legends of ligers existing in the wild. Notably, ligers typically grow larger than either parent species, unlike tiglons which tend to be about as large as a female tiger.
Shasta, a ligress (female liger) was born at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City on 14 May 1948 and died in 1972 at age 24.
Ligers enjoy swimming, which is a characteristic of tigers, and are very sociable like lions. Ligers exist only in captivity because the habitats of the parental species do not overlap in the wild. Historically, when the Asiatic Lion was prolific, the territories of lions and tigers did overlap and there are legends of ligers existing in the wild. Notably, ligers typically grow larger than either parent species, unlike tiglons which tend to be about as large as a female tiger.
Valley of the Kings animal sanctuary in Wisconsinhad a male liger named Nook who weighed around 550 kg (1,213 lb), and died in 2007, at 21 years old. Hobbs, a male liger at the Sierra Safari Zoo in Reno, Nevada, lived to almost 15 years of age before succumbing to liver failure and weighed in at 410 kilograms .Keeping the two species separate has always been standard procedure
Did you know that there truly is no such thing as a royal white Bengal tiger in captivity?
Did you know that there isn´t even a wild white tiger population, and that no white tiger has even been seen since the 1950s?
Did you know that there isn´t even a conservational value for breeding white tigers, nor that any are able to participate in any Species Survival Plans?
And finally, did you know that white tigers can only exist through rampant inbreeding, which causes heavy deformities, mental disabilities, and birth defects?
Most people don´t know these things. This is mainly because the zoos just don´t want the public to know. White tigers are the animal that everyone wants to see. When sold, they cost much more than a normal orange colored tiger. They are seen as more valuable because the public has naively believed the lies spread by countless zoos around the world.
White tigers are all related to Mohan, a white tiger cub that was captured in India in the 1950s. He was bred to a Siberian tiger (they hoped that the resulting cubs would be bigger due to the Siberian tiger´s greater size) in the hopes of producing more white tigers.
When all the cubs were orange, they were baffled. But, as they soon discovered, by breeding Mohan with his own daughter, some white tigers resulted. The inbreeding turned out to be necessary because the rarity of the gene that causes the white coloration, and because the gene is double recessive. From then on, all white tigers have been a result of such inbreeding.
Since the first breeding occurred between a Bengal and Siberian tiger, all subsequent animals were tiger hybrids. Because they were not pure species, no white tiger or orange tiger from that line will ever be able to be used in Species Survival Programs. Only pure subspecies can be used for that. Therefore, when zoos say they breed white tigers for conservation, they are trying to deceive the public. AZA accredited zoos typically frown upon the practice of breeding white tigers for this very reason.
With inbreeding comes many problems. The neonatal mortality rate for these animals is 80%. That means 80% of these tigers will die of birth defects. All other white tigers will have crossed eyes, whether it shows or not, because the white gene causes the optic nerve to be wired on the wrong side of the brain. The majority that survives suffer from profound defects and problems, such as immune deficiency, scoliosis, cleft palates, mental impairments, deformities, etc. The list could go on. So many of these animals suffer from deformities that it is estimated that only 1 in 30 white tigers will be put on display. The rest are sold off, either to another roadside zoo or placed in the exotic pet trade, or are killed. Zoos have no interest in animals they deem ugly.
This is the abuse that you are supporting every time you pay patronage to a zoo that has white tigers. This means that you must boycott such zoos and spread the word about this despicable practice. Contact any zoos you know of with white tigers and urge them to get their animals fixed. This is something that we can stop! We need to get our voices heard by the places that continue to breed these animals. When they realize the public isn´t falling for their tricks, they´ll realize that they have to stop the abuse in order to earn money.
When the people stop paying, maybe the killing and abuse can stop too.
-AnimalMedia
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
- Mohandas Gandhi
sâmbătă, 15 decembrie 2012
tigers vs lions
The Amur or Siberian tiger is the largest subspecies of the Panthera genus, known to weigh up to 800 lbs (360 kg), while large African lions weigh up to 550 lbs (250 kg). Average weight males is 181 kg for African lion[ 221.2 kg for Bengal tiger and 230 kg for Siberian tiger.
Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni)Credit: © Sharkphoto, dreamstime
The Malayan tiger was only identified as being a separate subspecies from the Indochinese tiger in 2004. It is very similar to the Indochinese tiger, but is smaller in size.
Malayan tigers are found in the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests of the southern tip of Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia.
The subspecies "jacksoni" was named to honor Peter Jackson, the former Chair of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group.
The IUCN lists the species as Endangered on its Red List.
The Malayan tiger was only identified as being a separate subspecies from the Indochinese tiger in 2004. It is very similar to the Indochinese tiger, but is smaller in size.
Malayan tigers are found in the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests of the southern tip of Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia.
The subspecies "jacksoni" was named to honor Peter Jackson, the former Chair of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group.
The IUCN lists the species as Endangered on its Red List.
Sumatran Tiger
Tigers are the largest members of the cat family (Felidae) and one of the most charismatic endangered species on the planet.
Over the last century, tiger numbers have fallen by about 95 percent and tigers now survive in 40 percent less of the area they occupied just a decade ago, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Tigers have the species name Panthera tigris. There are nine subspecies of tigers, three of which are extinct.
A meeting set to begin in Russia on Sunday (Nov. 21) will examine some of the issues facing tigers in the wild and efforts to better conserve the six surviving tiger subspecies. Here we look at what sets each of these species apart.
Caspian tiger (Panthera tigris virgata) - EXTINCT
The Caspian tiger (also called the Hyrcanian tiger or Turan tiger) became extinct in the 1970's.
Caspian Tigers and their large ungulate prey were found in the sparse forest habitats and riverine corridors west (Turkey) and south (Iran) of the Caspian Sea and west through Central Asia into the Takla Makan desert of Xinjiang, China, according to the IUCN.
Its extinction can be attributed to hunting of both tigers and their prey, habitat loss and conversion, and increased vulnerability of small populations.
Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) - EXTINCT
This now-extinct species inhabited the Indonesian island of Java into the 1980's.
Tigers were last positively recorded from Java's Meru Betiri National Park in 1976, and likely disappeared from much of the rest of the island by the 1940s, according to the IUCN.
Amur (or Siberian) tiger (Panthera tigris altaica)Credit: David Lawson / WWF-UK.
Amur tigers (also known as Siberian, Manchurian, Ussurian, or Northeast China tigers) are the largest of the tiger subspecies. Males can grow up to more 10.5 feet (3.3 m) from head to tail and weigh up to 660 pounds (300 kilograms). Females are smaller, reaching just 8.5 feet (2.6 m) in length and about 200 to 370 pounds (100 to 167 kilograms) in weight.
Amur tigers have paler orange fur than the other tiger species and brown instead of black stripes. They have white chests and bellies and a white ruff of fur around their necks.
According to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Save the Tiger Fund, wild Amur tigers are found in two main populations in in the Russian Far East, the primary population of about 450 individuals covers 60,000 square miles (156,000 sq km) in Primosky and Khabarovski Krais, and another small population of about 35 individuals occurs on the Russia-China border and into northeast China.
Officials representing China's Jilin province and Russia's Primorsky province, areas just north of the Korean peninsula, recently signed an agreement to set up a protected area straddling their countries' common border to safeguard the tiger, which is listed as Endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.
Like many other threatened species, Amur tigers are being bred in zoos around the world to boost their populations and maintain healthy genetic stocks. Amur tiger triplets born in September recently made their public debut at the Pittsburgh Zoo. The Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo also has a set of Amur tiger cubs.
The Caspian tiger (also called the Hyrcanian tiger or Turan tiger) became extinct in the 1970's.
Caspian Tigers and their large ungulate prey were found in the sparse forest habitats and riverine corridors west (Turkey) and south (Iran) of the Caspian Sea and west through Central Asia into the Takla Makan desert of Xinjiang, China, according to the IUCN.
Its extinction can be attributed to hunting of both tigers and their prey, habitat loss and conversion, and increased vulnerability of small populations.
Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) - EXTINCT
This now-extinct species inhabited the Indonesian island of Java into the 1980's.
Tigers were last positively recorded from Java's Meru Betiri National Park in 1976, and likely disappeared from much of the rest of the island by the 1940s, according to the IUCN.
Amur (or Siberian) tiger (Panthera tigris altaica)Credit: David Lawson / WWF-UK.
Amur tigers (also known as Siberian, Manchurian, Ussurian, or Northeast China tigers) are the largest of the tiger subspecies. Males can grow up to more 10.5 feet (3.3 m) from head to tail and weigh up to 660 pounds (300 kilograms). Females are smaller, reaching just 8.5 feet (2.6 m) in length and about 200 to 370 pounds (100 to 167 kilograms) in weight.
Amur tigers have paler orange fur than the other tiger species and brown instead of black stripes. They have white chests and bellies and a white ruff of fur around their necks.
According to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Save the Tiger Fund, wild Amur tigers are found in two main populations in in the Russian Far East, the primary population of about 450 individuals covers 60,000 square miles (156,000 sq km) in Primosky and Khabarovski Krais, and another small population of about 35 individuals occurs on the Russia-China border and into northeast China.
Officials representing China's Jilin province and Russia's Primorsky province, areas just north of the Korean peninsula, recently signed an agreement to set up a protected area straddling their countries' common border to safeguard the tiger, which is listed as Endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.
Like many other threatened species, Amur tigers are being bred in zoos around the world to boost their populations and maintain healthy genetic stocks. Amur tiger triplets born in September recently made their public debut at the Pittsburgh Zoo. The Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo also has a set of Amur tiger cubs.
Indian (or Bengal) tiger (Panthera tigris tigris)Credit: stock.xchng
The most numerous of the tiger species, the Bengal tiger is found in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. India is home to the largest population, estimated to between 2,500 and 3,750 individuals, according to the Save the Tigers Fund.
While most Bengal tigers have the coloration typically associated with their species, a recessive gene for coloration causes some to be cream or white in color instead of orange, according to the WWF. These "white" tigers are rarely found in the wild.
Wild tigers dwell in dry and wet deciduous forests, grassland and temperate forests and mangrove forests.
While this subspecies has more individuals left in the wild than its brethren, it is still listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
The most numerous of the tiger species, the Bengal tiger is found in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. India is home to the largest population, estimated to between 2,500 and 3,750 individuals, according to the Save the Tigers Fund.
While most Bengal tigers have the coloration typically associated with their species, a recessive gene for coloration causes some to be cream or white in color instead of orange, according to the WWF. These "white" tigers are rarely found in the wild.
Wild tigers dwell in dry and wet deciduous forests, grassland and temperate forests and mangrove forests.
While this subspecies has more individuals left in the wild than its brethren, it is still listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
South China tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis)Credit: © Xiaobin Qiu, dreamstime
Found in central and eastern China, the South China tiger is listed as Critically Endangered on the Red List — one step higher than Endangered.
According to the WWF, the South China tiger is estimated to be functionally extinct. Currently 47 South China tigers live in 18 zoos, all in China, the WWF says.
Exact numbers of wild tigers, if there are any left, are unknown. Only 40 years ago there were reputed to be more than 4,000 tigers, but the government declared them pests, and they were hunted, according to the Save the Tigers Fund.
Field surveys conducted in 1987 and 1990 found evidence of a few tigers in the remote mountains of Guangdong, Hunan, and Fujian Provinces of South China, though no tigers were seen, Save the Tigers Fund says. The evidence came from anecdotal stories from hunters.
Found in central and eastern China, the South China tiger is listed as Critically Endangered on the Red List — one step higher than Endangered.
According to the WWF, the South China tiger is estimated to be functionally extinct. Currently 47 South China tigers live in 18 zoos, all in China, the WWF says.
Exact numbers of wild tigers, if there are any left, are unknown. Only 40 years ago there were reputed to be more than 4,000 tigers, but the government declared them pests, and they were hunted, according to the Save the Tigers Fund.
Field surveys conducted in 1987 and 1990 found evidence of a few tigers in the remote mountains of Guangdong, Hunan, and Fujian Provinces of South China, though no tigers were seen, Save the Tigers Fund says. The evidence came from anecdotal stories from hunters.
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