South Chinese Tiger (Lat. Panthera Tigris Amoyensis) is a subspecies of the Chinese tiger, which belongs to the class of mammals, a detachment of predatory, a cat family. This species is listed in the Red Book MSOP. Since 1996, the subspecies has been under threat of extinction. To date, the South Chinese Tiger is the smallest subspecies of tigers.
Habitat
At the end of the 19th-beginning of the 20th century, tigers inhabited the central and southern part of China, at the moment, individuals live in some provinces, namely: Guangdun, Hunan. The tiger is named after. Amo, where the tigers managed to move from the mainland.
South Chinese tigers live in forests with a undergrowth consisting of shrubs and sometimes coniferous trees. These predators are 1000-3000 meters above sea level. They can occupy mangrove swamps with sea coasts. Tigers can also be seen in the river valleys. These feline representatives often mark their areas in urine or tear off the bark of the nearest trees. If tigers and travel, then on strictly defined routes.
Appearance
The wool of the predator is thick, on the back it is shorter. On the belly and in the chest area, the wool is denser and longer. There are bacenbards on the muzzle of the tiger. On the forehead of the animal you can notice several black stripes. The ears of the South Chinese tiger are marked from the back with a white spot.
A male adult weighs from 127 to 170 kg, when the weight of the female varies from 100 to 117 kg. You can distinguish the South Chinese tiger by powerful 4-centimeter fangs and strong paws. These predators are able to tie a buffalo with one blow, because one blow is equal to a weight pressure of 500 kg.
Lifestyle
South Chinese tigers know how to swim, the speed of movement in water is approximately 56 km/h. Predators have good vision and hearing. Tigers also run quickly.
Food
South Chinese tigers can hunt both day and night. They like to attack large animals. Favorite prey of predators pork deer. These cats are not averse to enjoying the porcupines, monkeys, birds and representatives of reptiles. Sometimes predators attack peacocks, hares. Due to the fact that people often cross the boundaries of their sections, tigers kill cattle and cattle.
These tigers use 2 murder methods. If the extraction of medium sizes, they bite it from behind, and if the production is several times higher than its own size of the predator, it falls and tries to strangle it. It happens that the tiger drags the victim into his lair for several hundred meters and tears it out there.
In general, the life of mammals is divided into periods of satiety and hunger. Because they can attack people. But this happened in the territory of the national parks themselves, usually the tigers rushed to the buses. Therefore, a large number of victims were able to avoid.
Reproduction
Representatives of this subspecies create couples only in the reproduction season, the rest of the time they live alone. But during the wedding season, the tiger achieves a female for a long time, tries in every possible way to please her and protects her family from enemies.
The female bears tigers for about 3 months. The tigress produces babies in winter. Usually in the litter 2-4 tiger. They are born blind. Up to 5 months, the mother feeds them milk, but from 8 weeks adds meat as feeding. From a year, kids have hunted with a female, and by the age of 2 years they can get food on their own.
The cub of the South China Tiger
Number and threat to existence
In the last century, the population was 4000 tigers. The animals lived in the most inaccessible places. Active extermination of predators began back in 1940. Almost half of the population died because of this. People hunted tigers for the sake of money, because their parts of the body on the black market were estimated at thousands of dollars. From the organs of animals prepared potions, the skins turned into luxurious carpets or bags. China authorities introduced a ban on shooting only in 1977.
But to almost complete extinction, the development of territories, where even the most active tourist had never stepped, also led to humanity. Because of this, the tigers had to “move” in the territory with a bad feed base and water, which is contaminated with industry waste.
At the moment, only 70 individuals are left in the world, most are in zoos. All these tigers are close to each other by close relatives, which complicates the propagation. In conditions of wild nature, only about 20 tigers live. This amount was derived according to the testimony of eyewitnesses. People saw predators on dangerous mountain paths or on the boundaries of protected areas. The last picture of the individuals of this subspecies, taken outside the zoo, was published in 2007. Tigers simply do not fall into the visibility zone of cameras, which complicates the position of the subspecies.
In 2000, experts created a charity fund with the name “Save Chinas Tigers”. The task of the organization is to increase the animal population. Fund offices are located in the UK and the USA. The Government of the PRC has been participating in the funding of the fund since 2008.
Interesting Facts
- Despite the appearance of fear, these animals are not so difficult to train. In addition, they are rather playful: at the beginning of the reproduction season, the tiger “fights” with the female, in the process they gently beat the face of the “opponent” with their paws.
- In ancient times, the inhabitants of China attributed the predator to the sacred representatives of the fauna. He was a symbol of courage and leadership. They created a hieroglyph denoting a predator. It consists of stripes similar to those that are on the Tiger torso.
- Life expectancy of the tiger varies from 10 to 15 years.
