Tigers Effect on the Ecosystem free essay sample

There are many factors that are limiting the strength of our ecosystem. These factors have made many environments around the world very vulnerable. The main ecosystem I will focus on will be the habitats that tigers live in. More specifically I will focus on the effects that tigers have on their ecosystem and what would happen if tigers we to unfortunately go extinct. The tiger is one of the biggest components in its ecosystem besides for humans. Without tigers in their ecosystem their environment would completely fall into disarray(4). To fully understand how the tiger effects it`s ecosystem you must fully know the status of this animal as of right now. Less than one hundred years ago tigers roomed most of Asia. They could be found from the forests of eastern Turkey and the Caspian region of Western Asia, all the way to the Indian sub-continent, China, and Indochina, south to Indonesia, and north to the Korean Peninsula and the Russian Far East(4). We will write a custom essay sample on Tigers Effect on the Ecosystem or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Unfortunately now tigers are found in only thirteen range states which is only 7% of their original land. These states consist of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia (Sumatra), Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam(1). From this land loss we have lost nearly 97% of our wild tiger population. There are as few as 3,200 tigers remaining(4). Now I must describe these magnificent animals. Today most tigers appear similar. The upper part of the animal ranges from reddish orange to ochre, and the under parts are whitish. The body has a series of black striations of black to dark grey color. The characteristic stripe patterns differ from one individual to another and from one side of the cats body to the other. In fact, there are no tigers with identical markings. Males exhibit a characteristic ruff (lengthened hairs around the neck), which is especially marked in the  Sumatran tiger. Some  Bengal tigers  are cream or white instead of orange, due to a recessive gene for this coloration called white tigers, they also have a pink nose and blue eyes. A tiger’s size will depend on the subspecies and gender, body length (including the tail) is 140-300 cm and males of the largest subspecies, the  Amur (Siberian) tiger, may  weigh up to 300 kg, while males of the smallest subspecies, the  Sumatran tiger, range from 100-140 kg. Within each subspecies, males are heavier than females. So how exactly do tigers fit into their ecosystem? A tiger is said to be called as an apex predator, which means an indicator of our ecosystem’s health(1). As the tiger is on the top of the food chain, it becomes the symbol for protection of all species on the Earth. An example of the way that the tigers ecosystem is this; an autotroph (grass) is eaten by a heterotroph (rabbit). After that rabbit has eaten the grass it scampers off and is eaten by a tiny fox. After the rabbit is eaten by the fox the fox is hunted and eaten by a wolf. Finally after the wolf eats the fox a tiger comes and eats the wolf. This will finish the cycle of food. As you can see the tiger has no natural predators. Besides the human beings that is. This leads me to the everyday threats that tigers face. First off we will star with the natural things that limit how well the tiger will succeed in everyday life. The biggest and most dangerous factor to the tiger’s life is poachers. Every part of the tiger, from whisker to tail, is traded in illegal wildlife markets. Poaching is the most immediate threat to wild tigers. In relentless demand, their parts are used for traditional medicine, folk remedies, and increasingly as a status symbol among wealthy Asians. There are usually limited resources for guarding protected areas in the countries where tigers live. Even countries with strong enforcement of tiger protection laws fight a never-ending battle against poaching. In Indochina and China, poaching is so pervasive that thousands of hectares of forests stand empty of tigers. The impact from the death of a single tiger at the hands of poachers reaches beyond one single loss(5). If the tiger that was killed was a female with cubs, her cubs will likely die without their mother and the females potential for future breeding is lost(5). If a male is killed, his death can result in intensive competition for his territory among surviving males in the population, creating disruption in further breeding by those males. People also kill tigers without knowing. Humans do this by hunting or catching the tigers prey. This in turn lowers the tiger’s food supply that can hurt them. The territory of a single tiger may cover 25 to 300 sq. miles depending on the availability of prey. When the population of prey decrease, the more territory a single male tiger needs to occupy, and when humans continue their acts of deforestation (through burning or cutting down trees), there will be less habitat for the tiger(5). And since each single tigers needs such a big territory, the reduction of the habitat would mean the reduction of tigers because the land area will not be big enough for so many tigers. All of these impacts on these tigers not only hurt their population of tigers but the economy of the local people. Most countries that have tigers are relatively poorer than most. Tigers help this countries and local people a lot. They will get rid of the locals other predators that might kill them (the people) or their livestock(1). Another way tigers help out their ecosystem is by brining tourism to places that harbor tigers. They do this by millions of people wanting to see them in their natural habitat. In turn tons of people visit these places with tigers each year for tours, trips, and other adventures(1). By doing this a lot of money and income is brought to the people living in these areas with tigers. As you can see tigers are a very important part of the ecosystem. They are very endangered and hurt even though they do so much for the economy, the people, and the food chain(2). So how can we help these poor animals for all the ways they have helped us? We must end the demand for tiger parts by informing consumers of tiger products to change their habits. We must stop the bleeding and ramp up anti-poaching measures and maintain and enforce laws banning tiger products. By protecting tiger habitat we must protect existing parklands, establish new protected areas for tigers and create corridors that connect parklands and allow tigers to roam to find adequate prey and mates for breeding(2). Continued learning about critical tiger wildlife research and monitoring techniques, which help improve tiger conservation methods, reduce human-tiger conflict, and keep track of which tiger populations need help the most. Reducing human-tiger conflicts we can provide innovative solutions and educational programs to reduce conflict between tigers and local communities(2). Works Cited 1. http://wwf. panda. org/about_our_earth/teacher_resources/best_place_species/current_top_10/lion. cfm 2. http://www. savetigersnow. org/ 3. http://wwf. panda. org/about_our_earth/biodiversity/ 4. http://worldwildlife. org/species/tiger 5. http://worldwildlife. org/threats/illegal-wildlife-trade