Tigers Effect on the Ecosystem
There are many factors that are limiting the strength of our ecosystem. These factors have made many environments around the world very vulnerable. The main ecosystem I will focus on will be the habitats that tigers live in. More specifically I will focus on the effects that tigers have on their ecosystem and what would happen if tigers we to unfortunately go extinct. The tiger is one of the biggest components in its ecosystem besides for humans. Without tigers in their ecosystem their environment would completely fall into disarray(4). To fully understand how the tiger effects it`s ecosystem you must fully know the status of this animal as of right now. Less than one hundred years ago tigers roomed most of Asia. They could be found from the forests of eastern Turkey and the Caspian region of Western Asia, all the way to the Indian sub-continent, China, and Indochina, south to Indonesia, and north to the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East(4). Unfortunately now tigers are found in only thirteen range states which is only 7% of their original land. These states consist of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia (Sumatra), Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam(1). From this land loss we have lost nearly 97% of our wild tiger population. There are as few as 3,200 tigers remaining(4).
Now I must describe these magnificent animals. Today most tigers appear similar. The upper part of the animal ranges from reddish orange to ochre, and the under parts are whitish. The body has a series of black striations of black to dark grey color. The characteristic stripe patterns differ from one individual to another and from one side of the cat 's body to the other. In fact, there are no tigers with identical markings. Males exhibit a characteristic ruff (lengthened hairs around the neck), which is especially marked in the Sumatran tiger. Some Bengal tigers are cream or white instead of orange, due to a
Now I must describe these magnificent animals. Today most tigers appear similar. The upper part of the animal ranges from reddish orange to ochre, and the under parts are whitish. The body has a series of black striations of black to dark grey color. The characteristic stripe patterns differ from one individual to another and from one side of the cat 's body to the other. In fact, there are no tigers with identical markings. Males exhibit a characteristic ruff (lengthened hairs around the neck), which is especially marked in the Sumatran tiger. Some Bengal tigers are cream or white instead of orange, due to a
Cited: 1. http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/teacher_resources/best_place_species/current_top_10/lion.cfm 2. http://www.savetigersnow.org/ 3. http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/biodiversity/ 4. http://worldwildlife.org/species/tiger 5. http://worldwildlife.org/threats/illegal-wildlife-trade