Stripes that Bewilder: Day of the Tiger

The majestic tiger, with its characteristic, striking black-striped orange coats, is an apex predator of the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, and far east Russia on the Asian continent. The largest species of felines that walk the face of the earth, these creatures are only rivalled by the king of the jungle himself, the lion. Tigers play a crucial role in maintaining ecological balance and are often considered symbols of strength, courage, and beauty. But, alas, these magnificent creatures are on the brink of extinction.

“International Tiger Day” was proposed and established in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia to address and raise awareness on the critical plight of the ‘big cats’ of the jungle and an urgent need for their conservation was pushed forward. This day is celebrated globally on July 29th with several catchy slogans like ‘Roar for Conservation’ and ‘Paws for a Cause’. The day’s main focus is on the conservation of our orange heroes as they are facing a severe decline in their population due to disgraceful actions such as poaching, habitat loss and human-wildlife conflict.

Panthera tigris belongs to the family Felidae and is generally found in various types of environments that range from tropical rainforests, temperate rainforests, grasslands, savannas, and even mangrove swamps. Therefore, the different subspecies found inhabiting these different environments also have slight changes – for better adapting to those environmental conditions-that make them unique in their own way, and slightly different from one another. Every so often though, the appearance of white tigers has been recorded, almost all of them from India. Black tigers have also been reported, albeit less frequently, from the dense forests of Myanmar (Burma), Bangladesh, and eastern India.

Five subspecies of Tiger exist at present and those are, the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), South China tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis), Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti), and the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae).

The Caspian tiger (Panthera tigris virgata), Bali tiger (Panthera tigris balica), and Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) are 3 tiger subspecies that once walked the face of the earth but now, sadly, have gone extinct.

Did you know?

Similar to the human fingerprint, the pattern of stripes on a tiger’s coat is unique to each individual. So since no two tigers can have the same marking pattern on their orange fur, researchers often use this as a factor to distinguish amongst tigers while studying about them in the wild.

Despite having a large build weighing up to 660 pounds, they hunt only around once a week and consume around 75 pounds in one go. They spend their nights hunting fairly large prey, and to do this they rely solely on their sight and hearing, as opposed to their sense of smell. They show an odd liking towards hunting porcupines, despite the danger of their quills. Besides the association between cubs and their mother, these animals tend to live a solitary life, not interacting much with others of their own species. The mother-cub relationship lasts until the cubs are about 2 years old and able to hunt for themselves. Since they are born blind into litters of around 2–4 and tend to remain half blind for a longer period of time after that, there is a long period of weaning and training during which mortality is high. Although tigers have an average lifespan of about 11 years, only 40% of those who reach maturity at age 2 actually make it to establish territories and produce young. The risk of mortality remains high for adult tigers due to their territorial nature, which often results in direct competition with conspecifics or members of the same species.

Dr. Jane Goodall, a renowned primatologist and conservationist, once said, “The loss of tigers is not just an ecological tragedy; it’s a cultural loss,” but sadly, it fell on deaf ears because we, humans, have engaged in the heinous act of illegally hunting tiger parts for their skin and bones, thereby posing a threat of poaching. Sadly, we did not stop there. We even went for their homes through deforestation and encroachment, and this in turn forced them into conflict with us, leading to retaliatory killings. The blame for the increasing deaths of humans due to tigers cannot be solely placed on the cats alone, as these are mere consequences of our actions. So, what can we do to rectify our mistakes and turn tigers into our striped friends? This problem was addressed by several international organizations, such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Panthera, etc., and their concerted efforts have helped the conservation cause immensely. As an individual who believes in the rights of tigers and all life in general, you could donate to these organizations so they can continue to protect tigers and their habitats. Donations aside, we can also reduce consumption of products made from poached tiger parts, which contribute to habitat destruction; if demand reduces, so will supply.

“In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.” is a profound statement by visionary conservationist Baba Dioum. This quote emphasizes the importance of education and awareness for conservation. Using this as the driving force, we have to educate others, especially the youth on the importance of tiger conservation and the threats they face as this would push them to work for this noble and timely cause. Visualizing tigers and their behaviours is a treat for the human eyes and hence we should choose eco-friendly tourism options that prioritize wildlife conservation.

Tigers do not exist in Sri Lanka (except for those captive at the zoo). They may have roamed the island once as suggested by the fossil evidence but have since migrated to the Indian subcontinent via the land bridge which was submerged after the ice age due to the rising sea levels. But this does not mean that Sri Lankans cannot be involved in the conservation efforts of Tigers. We too can make a difference and ensure the survival of these furry orange creatures.

International Tiger Day is celebrated annually to remind us of our responsibility towards protecting tigers and guarantee that future generations will continue to have the opportunity to witness the awe-inspiring beauty of tigers in the wild.

Written by:

Leandra Shiyara

2^nd Year Undergraduate

Biological Science

Amrah Latheef

3^rd Year Undergraduate

Immunology and Integrative Molecular Biology Hons.

Faculty of Science,

University of Colombo.

References:

Tigers: Threats, conservation and FAQs

By Anon Container: IFAW URL: https://www.ifaw.org/international/animals/tigers

Tiger

By Smithsonian’s National Zoo And Conservation Biology Institute Year: 2019 Container: Smithsonian’s National Zoo URL: https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/tiger

Tiger | Facts, Information, & Habitat

By Encyclopedia Britannica Year: 2018 Container: Encyclopædia Britannica URL: https://www.britannica.com/animal/tiger

Tiger | Species | WWF

By World Wildlife Fund Year: 2022 Container: World Wildlife Fund Publisher: World Wildlife Fund URL: https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/tiger

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