By Alex P. Vidal
BRONX, New York City -- Considering that there are at least 3,890 tigers left in the wild, according to the recent data of the World Wild Life, I consider myself lucky to have seen--and actually came closer to--an actual tiger (Panthera tigris in scientific name) recently in The Bronx Zoo.
Located in the Bronx, a borough of New York City, within Bronx Park, The Bronx Zoo is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States and among the largest in the world.
The Bronx Zoo tiger, captured by my iPhone camera as it walked in a restricted area until it dived into a small lake, was the largest cat species, most recognizable for the pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with a lighter underside.
Only a built-in glass bigger than a regular office aquarium separated this writer from the tiger.
It was a thrilling experience, to say the least.
The species is classified in the genus Panthera with the lion, leopard, jaguar and snow leopard.
ENTRANCE
In the entrance, I was greeted by two signboards one with a message, "The World's Tigers Need Your Help" and the other, "Only 5,000 Tigers are Left in the Wild--we are committed to there being more."
The message was clear: much more work is needed to protect this species that’s still vulnerable to extinction after a century of decline.
According to the WWL, the largest of all the Asian big cats, tigers rely primarily on sight and sound rather than smell. They typically hunt alone and stalk prey. A tiger can consume up to 88 pounds of meat at one time.
On average, tigers give birth to two or three cubs every two years. If all the cubs in one litter die, a second litter may be produced within five months.
WWL said tigers generally gain independence at two years of age and attain sexual maturity at age three or four for females and at four or five years for males.
Juvenile mortality is high however--about half of all cubs do not survive more than two years. Tigers have been known to reach the age of 26 years in the wild.
SUBSPECIES
Males of the largest subspecies, the Amur (Siberian) tiger, may weigh up to 660 pounds. For males of the smallest subspecies—the Sumatran tiger—upper range is at around 310 pounds. Within each subspecies, males are heavier than females, added the WWL.
"Tigers are mostly solitary, apart from associations between mother and offspring. Individual tigers have a large territory, and the size is determined mostly by the availability of prey. Although individuals do not patrol their territories, they visit them over a period of days or weeks and mark their domain with urine and feces," explained the WWL.
"Across their range, tigers face unrelenting pressures from poaching, retaliatory killings and habitat loss. They are forced to compete for space with dense and often growing human populations."
Also in the Bronx Zoo exhibits are: Jungle World, Monkey House, Madagascar, World of Reptiles, World of Birds, African Plains, Wild Asia Monorail, Baboon Reserve, Congo Gorilla Forest, Children's Zoo, Butterfly Garden, Mouse House, Himalayan Highlands, Astor Court and Sea Lion Pool, Russell B. Aitken Sea Bird Colony.
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