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Today more than 1,400 animals and plants
are endangered or threatened with extinction. An endangered species is
any plant or animal that is in danger of extinction. An extinct animal
or plant no longer exist. A threatened species is when the animals or plants
will become endangered in the near future. When the number of living animals
and plants are very low they are rare. Among these are animals that are
very close to my heart, the large cats, especially the Tigers.
Tigers are
the largest of the cats. They have bright golden fur with black stripes
on the head, body, limbs, and tail. These colorings help
the tiger blend into it's surroundings, making them nearly invisible when
stalking their prey. A full grown Tiger can weigh up to 500 lbs. and can
grow to be 10 ft. long. (Including the tail.) They live in dense jungles
and unlike most cats they are very good swimmers. They will will readily
swim across a river in search of prey.
Tigers will have between 2-5 kittens in a litter. However, only 2 are usually raised to become adults. The kittens will stay with their mother until their third year.
There are many reasons why tigers are endangered. It's a natural progression of life. Some plants and animals cannot adapt to environmental changes. (Dinosaurs) Natural forces are still at work. However, humans are causing most of the rapid and widespread environmental changes that are occurring today. The growing human population in Asia, where nearly all the wild tigers live, are destroying the jungles for lumber. Tigers are having to compete with humans for prey and poachers are killing them so they can sell the bones, skins, and organs on the black market. Tigers cannot adapt fast enough to these rapid changes so more than ever they are threatened with extinction.
Tigers are disappearing at an alarming rate. The worlds tiger population has dropped from over 100,000 to under 10,000 in the last century. Today there are only five subspecies of tigers left. The Bali Tiger, Caspian Tiger, and Javan Tiger have already become extinct.
The leopards range in size from 50 to 120 pounds. The average leopard is about the same size as the cheetah or the puma. They have long bodies and short massive legs. Their coats have many dark spots on the head throat and chest. The spots are in rosette shapes on the shoulders, upper arms, and back. The chest, belly, and underarms are white.
The leopard is one of the most beautiful animals in the world. For this reason they are targeted in the fur trade industry. The fur industry is a great threat to all leopards, but an even greater danger is livestock owners who live close to the protected parks and reserves. They use widely available poisons to kill the leopards in an attempt to save their livestock. Overall the outlook for the leopards species is pretty good. However, many of the subspecies are in great danger of extinction.
There are several subspecies
of leopards, but the closest to 
extinction
is the Amur leopard. The Amur leopard comes from the Chinese-Russian border
and North Korea. This is a very beautiful cat and is often compared to
the snow leopard. It is estimated that there are only about 20 Amur leopards
left in the wild. There are about 114 living in captivity where they
are involved in breeding programs. Hopefully this will help the population
rise and keep them from going extinct.
I'm not associated with The Exotic Feline Breeding Compound in any way. I feel that they are doing a great job helping the endangered cats and deserve recognition. They run the breeding compound on donations and volunteers.
This RainForest's Featured Page Circle site is owned by Endangered Cats. Want to join the RainForest's Featured Page Circle? |
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