Genius Hour Tiger Conclusion

These six weeks have been a great learning experience for me. There is so much information I've learned about tigers. Prior to the genius hour project I only knew about two of the subspecies of tigers, the Bengal and the Siberian tiger. However after doing all this research I found out that there was four additional subspecies of tigers that I knew nothing about.

In my research I found out that each tiger has it's own unique stripes, similar to human fingerprints. This information really surprised me. Another thing that I thought was really cool about tigers is that their tongues have needle like thorns that assist them to rip flesh from bones. I also found out through this research why tigers are on the endangered list. I found a long list of body parts that are used for traditional Chinese medicine. Let me just tell you this, when I read the list I found it very humurous because of how ridiculous it sounded. For example, a tiger's brain mixed with oil and applied to the body allegedly treats aches and laziness. I found that so absurd, but the Chinese believe that it will help them somehow. I also learned that the Chinese pay a lot of money for tiger parts, although there is no scientific proof that killing a tiger for its body parts has helped anyone with illneses or any other type of pain. My research through genius hour helped me learn stuff about tigers I never knew of.

The most powerful beautiful creature on earth is the tiger. I hope these beautiful cats can live on for many generations to come without being classified as an endangered species.

Tigers Territory

Tiger's Territory

Today marks my 6^th week talking about tigers. I will be sharing today what I have learned about tigers and how they protect their territory.  Having their own territory to eat, sleep and mate is extremely important to these animals. It is very hard for tigers to find vacant spots specially if they live in a well-protected areas with abundant prey. There are usually a number of surplus tigers that roam around from place to place because they have not been able to find a vacant territory.  These animals are called “Transients”. When a tiger dies, a transient will immediately take over their territory if not repelled vigorously.

The most important requirement for a tiger's survival is territory. In order to maintain their territory, tigers have to work very hard.  Tigers are very possessive of their turf. They defend their territory by leaving scent marks. They also defend their territory from rivals by patrolling its boundaries regularly. They create invisible fences of bushes and trees covered in its urine, which warns rival tigers to keep away. The way tigers keep their territory is by fighting its rival tiger. A fight between two evenly matched tigers can be extremely fierce and it can lead to one or both of the tigers being killed. Most often a badly injured tiger will limp away severely damaged from the fight, only to die later because it is unable to hunt and eventually starves to death. Tiger fights over territory are very common between males. Studies have shown that a male tiger may be able to hold on to a territory for only about 5 years before it is driven out or killed by stronger rival.

Why are Tigers in Danger?

Today I will be discussing the endangerments of this beautiful creature, but first I want to talk about an event that occurred to me this week. What happened to me this week is extremely ironic being that my plan was to share what I have learned about the endangerments of tigers.

On Sunday I found a small kitten roaming in my back yard. He had been separated from his mom. The kitty was about 4-6 weeks old. Although the kitten had been through a couple of rough days, he reminded me of what a baby tiger would look like. His fur was orange, just like a tiger and his eyes were gray with a pink nose. He was extremely cold and covered with fleas. I knew if I left him out there, he would have suffered a slow painful death. I wasn’t sure what to do with him so my mom and I agreed to take him to a shelter. Although I understand what happens to many animals at a shelter, the thought of him dying in my presence was horrifying to me. I hope my decision to leave him at the shelter didn’t further endangered his life. I do hope he soon finds a good home for someone to care for him.

Here’s a picture of him.

Now on to Tigers –The reason many tigers are endangered is because of human activity. One of the major reasons tiger populations are in great danger is from poaching. Humans hunt them and use their body parts like paws, fur, tails, teeth and heads for accessories which are sold overseas for a lot of money. Many parts are sold in the black market for traditional Chinese medicine. Tiger bones and nearly all body parts are used in traditional Chinese medicine for many purposes including pain killers. When people are willing to pay such high prices for Tiger parts for medicinal purposes, it encourages poaching thus greatly reducing the population of Tigers in the wild. Over a century ago there were over 100,000 tigers in the world, now sadly the global numbers are below 2,500 mature tigers.

Tigers are an endangered species, and because of this the support for endangered animals is very crucial. If these animals aren't protected now there won’t be any left. It is the responsibility of everyone to protect these endangered creatures so that one day they may thrive again.

There is no scientific proof that using tiger parts provides any healing benefits, but here’s a list of reasons why Tigers parts which are in such high demand in traditional Chinese medicine:

·         Tiger tails are grinded and mixed with soap to create and ointment used for treating skin cancer.

·         Tiger bones found in the tip of their tails are said to ward off evil spirits.

·         Crushed tiger bones added to wine serve as a Taiwanese tonic.

·         Tigers paws are dipped in palm oil and hung in front of a door to diminish evil spirits.

·         Tiger gallstones mixed with honey treats abscesses of hands and feet.

·         Tiger brains mixed with oil and applied to the body allegedly treats acne and laziness (silly).

·         Tiger eyeballs rolled into pills allegedly treats convulsions.

Tigers eating habits

Finally tomorrow is Friday and then the weekend. I'm so looking forward to it. Well, this week I did more research on this fabulous ferocious animal and I found many different interesting things about their eating habits.

Tigers are carnivores which means their primary source of food is meat. Tigers feed on deer antelope, wild boar, and buffalo. When a tiger is hungry he goes for the kill. They prey on small and large animals, but I was surprised to find out that they also eat a variety of birds, fish, rodents, small elephants, rhinos, crocodiles, and even leopards.

Tiger feedings generally depends on where they live. If they live in a populated area they tend to eat more, but if they live in a less populated area then they eat less. Bengals and siberians can eat up to 70 pounds of meat at one time. Bengal male tigers can eat an entire buffalo and a cow weighing 700 pounds in four days. After a tiger has hunted, it won’t hunt for 3-4 days in order to conserve their energy. Tigers are considered solitary animals so when eating their prey they often go to a secluded area where no other tiger can help themselves to a meal.

Tigers mostly do their hunting at night but also hunt during the day if they are desperately in need of food.



Tigers do not normally view humans as prey. Tigers will only attack a human if they feel threatened. They will never attack humans for feeding purposes. But seriously if you were to ever encounter a tiger in the wild, slowly back up as far away while keeping eye contact with him. The tiger likely wants for you to leave his territory more then he wants to feed on you.

 

Tigers Characteristics

This week has been incredibly challenging for me because I've had a lot of homework and very little time to reseach my favorite animal in the world. However because I am so fascinated by these creatures, learning about them has become one of my favorite things to do. Tigers aside from being large and beautiful, they are also fascinating. They have charactaristics that make them unique when compared to other animals.

Here's a few things I learn about about tigers and their characteristics this week:

The stripes on each tiger are very unique. Every tiger has it's very own distinct pattern. Very much like fingerprints.

Not all tigers are orange in color. There are some white tigers that have black stripes and blue eyes. The white tiger is actually just a Bengal tiger which has inherited 2 copies of a recessive gene and always has blue eyes due to a condition call leucism. Most white tigers alive live in captivity or zoos.

Tigers have loose skin on their belly, which helps them reduce the chance of them getting injured when kicked by their prey.

Tigers have long retractable claws, which are used to grab and hold their prey. They sharpen their claws by grinding their claws against a tree.

Tigers have a long sturdy tail which enables them to better balance themselves when walking on small sufaces.

Tigers have muscular jaws which only move in a verticle direction.

Tigers have a structure at the back of their eyes, behind the retina called the tapetun lucidum, which enables them to have better night vision. The tapetum lucidum causes thier eyes to glow at night when light is shone on them.

Tigers have an amazing sense of hearing. Their hearing is so sharp they are capable of hearing infrasound waves below the range of normal audible sound (20 hertz).

Tigers use their whiskers to sense where they will inflict a bite and it helps them to navigate in the dark.

Tigers mark their territories by scratching and urinating on trees. Their urine smells like buttered popcorn.

Tigers have sharp like needles on their tongues. This helps them peel off skin and flesh from bones while eating. They also have razor sharp canines that also help them tear and rip the flesh off their prey.

Tiger Subspecies

Here I am again on my second week blogging about tigers. This week was very exciting for me because I spent a lot of time watching videos about these beautiful creatures and where they live. I found them so interesting that I even went out and bought myself a stuff tiger to keep in my room.

There are ten recognized tiger subspecies, however four of them went extinct during prehistoric times and the others have survived to the become the subspecies we know today. 

Below is information about the known subspecies of tigers:

Bengal Tiger: This tiger is the most common species found in Nepal, India, Bhutan (Asia). Its current population is estimated to be around 2,400 as of 2011. This tiger is one of the second largest of the surviving subspecies. Males can be as long as 120 inches and weigh up to 600 lbs. Females average about 104 inches and weigh up to 350 lbs.

 

Indochinese Tiger: This tiger is found in Cambodia, China, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam. Its current population is estimated to be around 350 as of 2011. They usually live in mountainous regions. Males can be as long as 108 inches and weighs up to 430 lbs. Females average about 96 inches and can weigh up to 290 lbs.

 

 

Malayan Tiger: This tiger is found exclusively in the Malay Peninsula. This tiger was considered part of the Indochinese subspecies up until 2004 when a genetic analysis showed a distinct DNA strain, different from the Indochinese tiger. Its current population is estimated to be less than 500 in 2014. Males can be as long as 110 inches and weigh up to 285 lbs. Females average about  100 inches long and can weigh up to 194 lbs.

 

 

Siberian Tiger: This tiger is found in Armur-Ussari region of Primorsky Krai and Khaborovski Krai in Eastern Siberia. Its current population is estimated to be around 400 as of 2014. The Siberian tiger is the largest subspecies and ranks as one of the largest felids population ever to have existed. Males can be as long as 71 inches long and weigh up to 675 lbs. Females average about 60 inches long and can weigh up to 360 lbs.

 

South China Tiger: This subspecies is one of the 10 most endangered species in the world today. There have been some reported footprints in South China, but there hasn’t been a wild sighting in well over 25 years, so it is functionally extinct. Currently there are only 65 held in captivity. Males can be as long as 102 inches and weigh up to 400 lbs. This tiger is known to be the oldest of the tiger subspecies and is mostly recognized for its narrow skull, long nose and rhombus like stripes and vivid orange color.

 

Sumatran Tiger: This tiger is only found in Sumatra. It’s the last surviving of the Indonesian subspecies. In 1998 it was added to the endangered species list. Its current population is estimated to be around 500 and seen primarily in the island's national parks. This is the smallest of all living tigers. Males can be as long  as 87 inches and weigh up to 220 lbs.  Females average about 85 inches long and can weigh up to 165 lbs.

 

The beginning of tigers

I'm going to be discussing the origins of tigers in this blog. This will somewhat give you a pretty good idea of how long tigers have been in existence. First, let's start by saying that I'm fascinated by tigers. They are fierce, dangerous and they are mighty powerful predators. I wish I owned a tiger, but my mom wouldn't let me because they are strong and dangerous, not to mention that I have small dog and she might just become his lunch if I can't feed it the enormous amount of food they require to stay alive.

The earliest remains of tigers came from China and they are dated more then 2 millions years old. This clearly should give you and indication that these beautiful, fierce predators have been around for many, many years. These early fossils also indicate that the tiger was much smaller then it is now. It's strongly believed by research that the tiger is or was related to the Saber-tooth tiger which lived approximately 35 million years ago.

In the next 9 weeks I will be posting more interesting stuff about tigers, so stay tuned.


Saber-Tooth

Saber-Tooth thru evolution