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The Reintroduction of the Tiger
To save this magnificent feline from extinction 🆘 , one solution is available, return tigers to the wild. But is the reintroduction of the tiger in the wild possible?
We will see the difficulty that opposes the associations for reintegrating the tiger into its natural habitat.
We all share our experience and knowledge about the life of tigers because we have a special love for this majestic feline with the striped coat.
Let's discover together the reintroduction of the tiger. 👇
The tiger in captivity.
Nowadays, the world 🌏 has less than 4000 tigers in the wild, the world population of this feline has dramatically dropped in a short time, placing it on the list of animals in danger of extinction.
A tough situation caused by Man, which calls into question the future of these tremendous striped cats. 🐅
The world turns upside down, while the tiger population is in danger of extinction. The species fights for its survival in the wild, in captivity, whether they are in zoos, circuses, in farms, or still in private homes, the number of tigers is increasing faster and faster, so much so that just in the United States, 🇺🇸 the country counts no less than 10,000 tigers in captivity.
The authorities could list a figure as best they could know that the reality is quite different because some experts of felids estimate that the number of tigers in captivity would be much more significant.
A logical estimate is founded because the authorities admit that it is impossible to know or control the persons who have one or several tigers at home.
Zoological parks being above all, professional structures, it is easier to have an exact figure, knowing that they are also in the obligation to make the declaration of their activity, under penalty of having legal problems, but as regards the private individuals and certain breedings, the situation is much more complex, and presents difficulties that the concerned authorities cannot face.
This may be due to a lack of budget, staff or support from the government, but these large wild carnivores should no longer live behind cages or in enclosures.
Some people offer a sad life, who claim to love these wild animals, a funny way to prove your love. Let's take a simple example to understand; if the government loves you so much and, out of love for you, decides to lock you up, in other words, for life, in prison, I think these people will refuse to be loved like that. You have to stop believing everything they say 🤥; know that financially the life of these animals in cages brings in a lot of money and that playing on the urgency🚨, the good deed, and the need for help is nothing but marketing. It is a universe full of secrets, and that is well kept and shared between them.
Of course some tigers (as their owners will say, because it's the easy excuse) cannot be released back into the wild, because they are no longer able to hunt and survive in their true natural habitat, and that's true, but as far as the newly born cubs are concerned, why not give (not sell) them to a tiger reintroduction program?
Or to associations that offer a better life to tigers born in captivity, like nature reserves. No, selling tigers or owning a tiger cub brings in too much money 💵, as we can see, with Exotic Joe (tiger breeder in the US) who did not hide at this level
The reintroduction program.
The priority of the tiger breeding program is to reintroduce the extinct species in their natural environment.
To save this subspecies of feline in our ecosystem, the reintroduction of the tiger 🐅 in the wild is primordial to see indispensable.
Without this, the wild tiger population runs to its loss, so organizations that fight for the preservation of species threatened with extinction have set up a reintroduction program for the future of tigers.
A breeding program that is very expensive, regulated, and extremely difficult to implement.
This difficulty is present in the different steps of the program, which are divided into several parts.
- The careful selection of the tiger, which must enter the program.
- The acquisition of skills for life in the wild (hunting, reproduction, survival).
- The living area where the big cat will be released.
- The adaptation of the feline in its new territory.
- The protection and follow-up after its release.
The reintroduction is something feasible. Several organizations have demonstrated it with several species, including primates, birds, ungulates, but as for carnivores, it remains more complex; the lynx was well reintroduced in France 🇫🇷 without any problem.
However, for big cats, it is much more difficult. Reintroducing the tiger into the wild is not impossible. Still, it requires a great deal of preparation because the environment that will host this superb predator must support it.
For this to happen, it is necessary to know how many pears it eats per year, how often it hunts, its success rate in hunting, to be able to feed itself, the kilometers it needs for its territory, and which are the congeners it will frequent, males or females in its new habitat.
As we have seen, reintroducing a tiger 🐅 that has grown up in captivity is impossible and much too dangerous; the animal used to Man will not be afraid to approach near villages and could kill a human or livestock, it will be immediately tracked down to be in turn killed, which is not the goal.
It is necessary to proceed otherwise, to take a tiger from captivity, install it in a vast enclosure where it will relearn to hunt small prey at first, such as rabbits, and over time, offer him gigantic game until he reaches a good hunting technique, which will allow him to kill a deer 🦌 or a boar 🐗.
Of course, in this operation, he will never contact the Human. Afterward, it will be necessary to put another tiger of the opposite sex, which also followed the same program to hunt together and reproduce.
The program's success will be determined at that moment; the parents will teach the cubs the hunting techniques to survive in the wild, as they will do in ordinary times in their natural environment.
Once the pups have grown up and can hunt on their own, they will be reintroduced into the wild. A successful method, which unfortunately requires a lot of time!
The release of the tiger.
The main objective of this operation is to restore biodiversity by releasing the tiger in an area where the species no longer lives; this will subsequently boost its population, and increase in the long term, the life expectancy of the subspecies in the wild.
However, the release of the tiger is a crucial test; it is methodically calculated so that the fawn, which is returned to the wild, for example, a male tiger, does not find itself on the territory of another of its congeners of the same sex, because these large fawns are above all territorial animals, a confrontation could compromise the success of the reintroduction of the animal.
It is well after that this natural behavior of the life cycle of the tiger will take over once the stage of adaptation is over.
However, this is not the only element to consider; females or males must also be released, in an area that has to its credit no history of poaching, far from villages, and without any human activity.
The tiger must be able to be in peace, to reproduce, hunt, and raise its cubs, without encountering any problem coming from the Man, knowing that this feline moves in normal time, on very long distances, it is essential that its release is done in a very vast zone of life, what will decrease an encounter with malicious persons greatly and will increase than the population of the tiger 🐅 in the sector where it was introduced.
The adaptation of the tiger to the wild.
One of the most critical phases after the release of the tiger in its natural habitat is the adaptation of the fawn in its new environment. It will have to put into practice all that it has learned during the reintegration program, mark its territory, find prey, but above all, know how to hunt it.
Although he was born with the predator's instinct, the art of hunting remains a difficult test that he will have to perfect and master, day after day, to provide for his own needs, and ensure his survival in the wilderness.
It is only after several months in the wild that we can determine whether or not the tiger has been able to apply his knowledge. Of course, all its movements are followed, thanks to the GPS tag installed around the neck.
Cameras 📷 are placed beforehand in the nature reserve, which allows scientists and members of the program to obtain photographic shots triggered, thanks to a motion detector system.
Thus, when the feline passes in front of the lens, photos in color and infrared, if it is at night, can be collected and analyzed by these professionals.
Some specialists of wild cats will also go on an excursion on the territory of the tiger to find the carcasses of the prey killed by the wild cat, to examine what it hunts deer, wild boar, bovid, and at what frequency.
This is an essential point because a high hunting frequency proves the excellent health of the animal and its successful adaptation.
The protection of the feline in the wild.
For its protection, the tiger 🐅 will have to be followed and monitored. Essential points will be observed throughout the life of the striped feline in the wild, its diet, reproduction, offspring, and health, which will determine whether the final objective of this long program is successful.
Unfortunately, all these years of learning, studying, education, reintegration, monitoring, protection can collapse in a fraction of a second because of poaching and the behavior of men who think only about money 💵 and especially not the welfare of wild animals.
A situation that has already happened more than once, shattering the efforts and hopes of other people who wish the best to these poor tigers threatened with extinctions. 🆘
TO SUMMARIZE
To help these reintroduction and animal protection organizations, DONATIONS are essential.
However, you can also participate in this fight, without spending any money, as you have noticed we are in the digital era, especially with social networks, so share this article as much as possible, to raise awareness of the highest number of people, who bears an actual love for these wild animals.
Thus, this small and simple gesture can have positive consequences👍 for the protection of tigers!
