Transcript Biology Siberian Tiger

Siberian
Tiger
By: Irvinder Sohi
Dear MP
When one species is removed from their ecosystem it
affects another. Biodiversity depends on every single
organism in a ecosystem, if one is removed other
organisms will also suffer the consequences. The
Siberian tiger is at the top of the food chain, it is a
powerful and intelligent predator. As such, it helps
keep the population of antelope, deer, boar, and
buffalo balanced. Without the tiger the number of
these species would increase dramatically. This
sudden increase in population would totally ravage
those species food, vegetation.
Dear MP continued
If the vegetation in forests was gone, herbivores would not
survive there. Some which include; insects and other small
bugs. This would cause those species to fled from their
ecosystem and move onto crops in farmlands, which play a
vital food source to humans. If these crops fail or are eaten
by insects it can have a crustal impact on humans. If these
species eat the plant too quickly and do not allow anything
to grow, it will affect the soil. Soil will become infertile and
eventually nothing will grow on it, decreasing the
percentage of vegetation drastically. So Mr. MP please stop
the poaching and retributive killing of the Siberian tiger
since it affects everyone, please help fight the cause. Donate
to WWF to help protect the tiger.
Save the tiger
Taxonomy
 Kingdom: Animalia
 Phylum: Chordata
 Class: Vertebrata
 Order: Carnivora
 Family: Feliadae
 Genus: Panthera
 Species: Panthera tigris altaica
Names
 Scientific name is Panthera tigris altaica
 Known as Amur tiger in Northern America
 Known as Siberian Tiger tiger in Europe
 The tiger is closely related to the lion,
leopard, and jaguar
Location
 They live primarily in eastern Russia's birch forests
 Some live in China and North Korea
Habitat
 Siberian Tigers live in a cooler environment, close to
the pacific ocean
 Fur is very helpful, provides excellent insulation
and camouflage
 Siberian tiger is a terrestrial animal but is a excellent
swimmer
Population
 Sadly only 400-500 Siberian tigers exists around the
world
 People hunt the tiger for it’s beautiful fur and some
consider killing a tiger as a trophy
 2001-2011, the population has increased by 100
tigers, thanks to endangered species act, 1973
Population Trends
• In the past
decade the
tiger
population
has been
increasing
• Sadly the
Siberian tiger
is still an
endangered
species, less
than 1000 live
in the world
today
(including
zoos and the
wild)
Poaching and retributive
killing
 Includes the illegal trade of tiger parts and human-tiger
conflict
 Tigers have been hunted as;
 Status symbols
 Decorative items such as wall and floor coverings,
souvenirs and curios
 Hunting as a sport probably caused the greatest decline
in tiger populations up until the 1930’s
Poaching and retributive
killing Continued
 Tiger parts such as pelts are very expensive which
provide huge profits to smugglers
 One tiger contains around 20Ib of bone which can
be sold
 Almost every part of the tiger can be sold
 Skin for decorations
 Claws and teeth for good luck
 Bones and pelts for medicine
Habitat loss and
fragmentation
 Between 1940 and the late 1980s, the greatest threat to the
Siberian tiger was loss of habitat due to human population
expansion and activities such as logging.
 Tiger population decreased by more than 20% in forty years
 90% of the Siberian tiger’s habitat has been destroyed
Traditional Chinese
Medicine
 Traditionally Chinese doctors used tiger parts in there
medicine
 Parts include; Tiger bones and skin
 Chinese superstitions;
 Chinese believe tiger claws, teeth and whiskers bring
good luck
 100’s of tigers
were hunted each
year
 This lead to a drop
in the tiger population
Food Web
Food Web
 In it’s ecosystem the tiger sits at the top
 Since it is a large and powerful carnivore and
primary predator
 The Siberian tiger is the world’s largest tiger which
helps it take it’s prey down easily
 In its natural habitat the Siberian Tiger is one of the
biggest animals in weight and size
 The Siberian tiger can weigh up to 660 lbs and grow
up to 10.75 feet
Chordata Characteristics
 Every organism which falls under the chordata phylum has or
had some or all of these characteristics during one point
 Pharyngeal pouches (present during some stage of
development)
 Closed blood system
 Complete digestive system
 Ventral heart
 Tail (at some stage of development)
 Endoskeleton (bony or cartilaginous)
Examples
 The lion, leopard, and jaguar are apart of the
chordata phylum
 These three species fit the characteristics of the
chordata phylum
 Similarities with the tiger;
 All have paws, tails, teeth, and are large cats
 Share a similar digestive, respiratory, and skeletal
structure
Similarities with lion,
jaguar, and leopard
Consequences
 If the Siberian Tiger was the go extinct it would
have a massive impact on the ecosystem where it
was present
 The Siberian tiger keeps the population of antelope,
deer, boar, and buffalo in check
 Without the Siberian tiger these animals population
would increase
 This would lead to those species having a storage of
food and having to leave there ecosystem and enter
the human ecosystem
Consequences Continued
• Storage of food because antelope, deer, boar, and buffalo
rely on vegetation as food and once it is gone they will have
nothing to eat
• This would lead to storage in human resources (animals will
attack crops), which can lead to a decrease in the human
population
• If one species is effected it has a chain reaction on other
species, since everything relies on each other for a ecosystem
to work
Is Biodiversity important?
Firstly, what is biodiversity? Biodiversity is specific areas around the
world where different species of all shapes and sizes live together,
and basically depend on each other to keep everything in that
ecosystem stable and sustainable for life. Examples of different
ecosystems include; rain forests, oceans, and deserts. The reason
why I believe biodiversity is important is every single organism
contributes in it’s own unique way; every organism in an ecosystem
is a necessity for survival. From single cell organisms such as
bacteria to giant mammals such as tigers, play a crucial part in an
ecosystem; they all have their own unique functions to perform. For
example, decomposers such as worms, break down waste to help
fertilize the soil. Without these decomposers that ecosystem would
seem nothing more than a lifeless wasteland full of diseases and
dead matter piled on top of each other.
Is Biodiversity important
Continued
Different species doing different tasks increases the productivity of an
ecosystem. Another example is, the tiger keeps the population of its prey such
as antelope, deer, boar, and buffalo stable so there isn't a large increase in
numbers for those particular species. If predators were removed from an
ecosystem this would allow every organism in that particular ecosystem to
multiply greatly since the risk of being killed has decreased significantly. This
would mean, storages in food supplies and it cause many species to die out
due to starvation or the ability to find to food. Every species shares an equal
important role in an ecosystem; if one is removed there is a chain reaction on
other organism in that ecosystem, which can have serious effects, such as
extinction. In conclusion biodiversity is very important because it helps every
organism survive. Each organism depends on each other, if one is removed,
another is affected. We need to stop hunting wild animals, polluting the
environment and place strict laws on poaching. If we do so we can save
endangered species from extinction. If some of those species were to go
extinct it could have a huge impact on humans, animals will flee there
habitats and evolve to live with humans, this means more human-animal
conflicts, which can be dangerous. Together, we can stop this from happening,
a step at a time, by saving and acknowledging the importance of biodiversity.
Video
 Short Video showing Siberian tiger killing a deer
 Video shows how tigers attack deer and where it
strikes the deer
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XefhBqSTm
A
 Tiger use it’s weight to bring deer onto ground
 The tiger then bites the deer in it’s throat,
suffocating the animal to death
Bibliography
 Siberian Tigers, Siberian Tiger Pictures, Siberian Tiger
Facts - National Geographic. (n.d.). Animals - Animal
Pictures - Wild Animal Facts - Nat Geo Wild - National
Geographic. Retrieved October 17, 2011, from
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mam
mals/siberian-tiger/
 Tigers -- hunting, prey and captive feeding. . (n.d.).
Loadstar's Lair: Support for students, teachers and researchers
seeking information on specific environmental, historic and
art-related topics. High resolution images of the endangered
tiger and the works of Leonardo da Vinci.. Retrieved October
18, 2011, from
http://www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/hunting8.html
Bibliography
 WWF - Threats to tigers. (n.d.). WWF. Retrieved October
19, 2011, from http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/end
 (2009). The Siberian Tiger. In Grolier (Vol. 1, pp. 1-4).
New York City: The New Book of Popular Science.
 TIGERS - Scientific Classification. (n.d.). SeaWorld/Busch
Gardens ANIMALS - HOME. Retrieved October 11, 2011,
from http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/infobooks/tiger/scientific-classification.htm