![]() As a member of the GTI, SCBI scientists work with policy makers and practitioners across Asia and around the world to save tigers.Īt the Tiger Summit in St. In 2008, the Smithsonian Institution joined the World Bank Group and the Global Environmental Facility to launch the Global Tiger Initiative, designed to stabilize and restore wild tiger populations to save the species from extinction. In the 1990s scientists began approaching tiger conservation as a complex problem stretching across borders, requiring the cooperation of many partners. Smithsonian efforts to save tigers began in 1972 with the Smithsonian-Nepal Tiger Ecology Project. To support and assist management of this project, rangers are trained and given equipment to patrol the forest to prevent poaching and mitigate human-animal conflict. In collaboration with USAID and local partners in Bangladesh, SCBI scientists are collecting and analyzing a wide range of field data on tigers, prey and mangrove habitat, including through camera-trap studies to estimate tiger populations. They support efforts to stop poaching and trafficking, reduce human-tiger conflict, improve management practices in tiger habitats and protect Asian forests where tigers live. Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's Work With Tigersįor decades, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute scientists have studied tigers to understand their behavioral ecology and the most effective ways to protect them. In some areas, tiger farming has become a profitable illicit market. Despite the work of many governments and scientists to decrease demand by educating the public about other sources for these "medical" compounds, an illegal market for tiger parts persists. The demand for tiger bones and other body parts used in traditional Asian medicines is also contributing to the tiger's decline. In the U.S., cougars in the western parts of the country have faced similar threats. These conflicts are not unique to Asia and are common as humans encroach upon the territory of large predators around the world. The second is urban sprawl and the encroachment of towns and cities into tiger territories, which displaces the cats and leads to killing by humans provoked by fear. The first is a rise in agriculture and overgrazing by farmers, which drives away typical prey for tigers and forces them to hunt livestock. Human-animal conflict stems from two primary issues. There are numerous threats to tiger survival, including human-animal conflict driven by human overpopulation, poaching for use in traditional medicines and the destruction and fragmentation of habitat. The goal of the SSP is to sustain a population of the three manage tiger subspecies-Amur, Sumatran and Malayan-that is genetically healthy enough to maintain a high genetic diversity for the next 100 years. The Smithsonian's National Zoo participates in the Species Survival Plan for Sumatran and Amur tigers, which works to responsibly breed and manage tiger populations within AZA-accredited institutions throughout North America. It is generously estimated that only 3,900 tigers exist in the wild, including approximately 200 to 400 Sumatran tigers and 360 Amur tigers. All tigers are protected under CITES Appendix I. The Sumatran subspecies is listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List, and the Amur is listed as endangered. Only six of the nine tiger subspecies that once existed remain, and the South China tiger is thought to be nearly or entirely extinct in the wild. Globally, tigers are considered an endangered species. They receive knucklebones or cow femurs twice a week and rabbits once a week to exercise their jaws and keep their teeth healthy. Tigers hunt about once a week and consume as much as 75 pounds (34 kilograms) of food in one night.Īt the Zoo, tigers eat ground beef, and their diet is supplemented with enrichment items each week. At the opportune moment, tigers pounce on their prey, take it to the ground and finish the kill by breaking or biting the neck. ![]() Their striped coats help them blend into their surroundings, where they lie in wait for prey to pass by. These powerful cats hunt primarily at night, using sight and sound to identify prey. Tigers are adept swimmers and have even been recorded hunting in the water. When tigers are found in close proximity to humans, they may also feed on domestic animals, such as cattle or goats. Tigers are ambush predators that rely on stealth and strength to take down prey. These apex predators primarily hunt large ungulates, such as wild boar and deer, but are also known to consume monkeys, buffalo, sloth bears, leopards and even crocodiles.
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