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Archive for the ‘Conservation Facts’ Category

Largest amongst all existing cats, tiger compares in size to the biggest feline fossils ever found. Named ‘Panthera Tigris’, tigers are characterized by their orange coat and black stripes, the pattern of which uniquely identifies each individual tiger. With a whitish belly, tiger’s coat is designed to disperse their outline, aiding them in camouflage as they stalk their prey. Tigers generally weigh in a wide range – from two hundred and fifty to eight hundred pounds – depending on the individual subspecies and gender of the animal. Female Sumatran Tigers may weigh around two hundred seventy pounds, whereas adult male Siberian Tigers can be as heavy as eight hundred pounds. In fact the largest ever recorded Siberian Tiger in captivity weighed over one thousand pounds! The average length is between 2.5 to 3.5 meters, again subject to variation amongst sub-species.

The reason behind these size variations is evolutionary adaptation of the tiger to varying environments in different regions of the world. The large Amur tiger prowls over huge territories in Siberia, tackling massive prey animals and having to cope with bitter cold – thus evolving into the biggest tiger species with a thick fur. The Bengal Tiger comes next with its notoriety for great ferocity and occasional man-eating in the mangroves of Sundarban (more on that later!). In fact big male bengal tigers, particularly those in northern India and Nepal, weigh close to the Siberian Tiger. Following are the Indochinese Tiger, Malayan Tiger, South China Tiger and Sumatran Tiger. The other three sub-species – the Caspian Tiger, Balinese Tiger and Javan Tiger have all gone extinct in the past century.

Apex predators, tigers are solitary hunters designed to take down huge prey animals. They are excellent stalkers and display great cunning in patiently pursuing and ambushing their prey. Despite their great size, they can reach speeds up to 60km/hr and leap up to 10 metres. The primary mode of attack is a sudden charge and leap to unbalance the animal. Next they use their muscular forearms to hold down the hunted whilst they severe their spine (or suffocate by crushing the windpipe in case of big animals like gaur and water buffalo) using their long canines and strong jaws. Even still only a fraction of the hunts are a success for the tiger. Therefore it eats a lot during one sitting once it makes a kill (usually every four or five days). Next it hides the carcass and usually returns to it over the next couple of days to devour the scraps. Usual prey is deer, buffalo, gaur. However a hungry tiger will go for anything from young elephants, rhinos, crocodiles, leopards, bears and even humans. Whereas conflicts between tigers and elephants are rare, tigers have been known to charge and maul Indian bull elephants. A tiger can climb to the back of the elephant in a single leap and viciously attack the tourists atop – as is often chronicled by historians of the British India.

Tigers are territorial animals and mark their domain in the forest by leaving scat and urine trails. Males are very defensive of their region and this frequently leads to conflict between individual tigers, leading to severe injury and even death. A male’s territory frequently overlaps those of several females, to which he mates as they come in estrus. Pregnancy lasts for around three and a half months and usually four or five cubs are born. In the wild not all of these survive since the female is often not able to hunt enough to feed all of them as they depend on her for their food until one and a half years of age. Also randomly, other male tigers may kill the cubs to bring the female into heat.

Despite all its magnificence the tale of the tiger has been a sorry one over the past century. Their number in the wild has dwindled from over one hundred thousand to nearly seven thousand today, with the Bengal Tiger having the healthiest population among existing tiger species (thanks largely to an initiative by the Indian Government in the 1970′s that led to ‘Project Tiger’, one of the more successful conservation programs worldwide). Still many are killed annually by poachers for use in Chinese traditional medicines that make ridiculous claim about the aphrodisiac and strengthening abilities of tiger parts – with no scientific evidence to back them. Others are threatened by habitat destruction and ever increasing human populations. Of the others, the South China tiger is in immediate threat of extinction owing to ruthless hunting in the 1960′s when it was declared as a ‘pest’ by the then communist government. Despite the passage of a law protecting them in 1977, the few remaining tigers in China lack genetic biodiversity to sustain them as a specie.

At June of year 2002, there were 4,500,500 beef cattle and 39,500,000 sheep in New Zealand, which means 1.1 cattle and ten sheep for every New Zealand citizen. The wool, meat, and other products that come from this cattle farming division are worth approximately $6,300,000,000 every year, and are responsible for about 22% of exported goods of New Zealand.

There are more than 13,000 commercial beef and sheep cattle farms located in New Zealand, majority of which are possessed and run by cattle farming families. Beef and sheep farms are mainly on New Zealand’s hill country. There is a broad assortment of farm systems and types that differ according to farmer preference, scale, climate, topography and land type. Most of the farms both have beef and sheep cattle, which balance each other in grazing systems based on pasture. A number of farms include arable crops or run deer, as well. This diversification lessens the risk of the cattle farming business.

All beef and sheep cattle farms are operated on low key pasture grazing methods, sometimes incremented with fodder cropping, silage and hay. This low priced method allows New Zealand farmers to provide high-quality wool and pasture-fed meat to markets all over the world at cutthroat costs.

Beef exported goods are still lead by frozen product beef exports into North America. However, other industries are also progressing in significance. Asian industries, particularly, are seeking for young, grass-fed, tender beef. In September of year 2002, the country of New Zealand made 565,000 tons, or 1% of the world manufacture of beef. Approximately 85% of this manufacture was exported, corresponding to 7% of the world business in beef cattle farming.

Regardless of the New Zealander’s taking in of approximately 12 kilograms of lamb (with 12 kilograms of mutton) for each individual every year, 87% of their lamb manufacture is exported. Yearly manufacture is approximately 402,000 tons of lamb and 104,000 tons of mutton. This sum stands for just about 4% of world manufacture, but exports are responsible for 47% of the world exports. The sheep meat industry of New Zealand is very reliant on worldwide market access and meat costs.

Black Rhinoceros Introduction

The name of the Black Rhinoceros is quite misleading. They are actually going to be gray, white, or brownish in color. The name was actually given to them though to help make a clear distinction between them and the White Rhinoceros species.

Black Rhino Description

The Black Rhinoceros has a hooked lip and a very large body. On average they span 11 feet in length. They can weigh from 1,800 pounds to more than 3,000 pounds. They feature two horns that grow on the top of the head. The front horn can be almost five feet long. The other one is much smaller with a size that is around two feet.

These Rhinoceros are known to have a smaller head and smaller ears than the White Rhinoceros. The fact that they have a smaller head is why they don’t have that hump on their backs.

Black Rhino Distribution

Africa is the location where you will find the Black Rhinoceros in their natural setting. You will find them living along the Savannahs. They may be in the woodland areas or on the plains. Some areas where they live include Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania.

Black Rhino Behavior

The Black Rhinoceros typically spends its time alone. The females with young though will often spend their time in the same area. They have found that there is safety in numbers when it comes to protecting their offspring. The males almost always are alone from the time they leave their mothers until they die. The exception is when they are looking for females to mate with.

The Black Rhinoceros isn’t as territorial as other species. They often have a home range that will bring them into contact with each other. If there is a lack of food or water though they can become more aggressive in fighting for those available resources.

Black Rhino Diet and Feeding

The diet of the Black Rhinoceros consists of a variety of plants and grass. They also eat from thorny bushes and tree branches. They will consume bark as well as a variety of seasonal fruits that grow on the trees or plants. They do need water to survive but often go for several days at a time without it.

Black Rhino Reproduction

Mating can take part during any time of the year. However, it is more common during the rainy season. The males will use their horns to fight with each other for access to the females that are ready to mate. The stronger males are the ones that will get the right to be with those females.

The pair will often spend a couple of weeks together before the male goes either to look for another female or back to his home range. Approximately 15 months later the female will give birth. They usually weigh about 100 pounds when they are born. The baby will drink milk from the mother’s body. They will also be introduced to plants a couple of weeks after being born.

Black Rhino Conservation

In July of 2006 the World Conservation Union declared one subspecies known as the West African Black Rhinoceros as being extinct. There are still three remaining subspecies with plenty of efforts in place to offer them as much protection as possible. Stopping the illegal poaching of these Rhinoceros is something that has to be done for conservation to be effective.

Large numbers of them continue to be killed due to a lack of enforcement of the laws in place. The fact that humans continue to destroy the natural territory of the Black Rhinoceros is also a serious problem. They need lots of room to explore and the chance to find large amounts of food.