WORLD TIGER DAY is on July 29 — a day to celebrate some of the world's most fascinating big cats and raise awareness about their urgent need for conservation.
At one point, the world had nine subspecies of tigers. But today, there are only six. While most continental tigers are genetically one species, they have important territorial and behavioral differences. Today, let's look more closely at the rarest of them all — the Indochinese tiger.
Indochinese tigers are native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia, with reproducing populations still active in Myanmar and Thailand. Unlike their tiger cousins, Indochinese tigers are smaller, with shorter fur and narrower stripes, and often communicate through roaring, grunting, hissing, scent and claw marks.
While there may be more comparable traits between Indochinese tigers and other tigers, their rarity has resulted in them being under-studied. Today, their wild population is estimated to be only 250 individuals strong and are considered endangered.
Because Indochinese tigers must often compete with humans for the same food sources, such as livestock, they are sometimes killed in retribution. Indochinese tigers are also losing habitat to commercial logging, plantations, and roads, making them less able to hunt and more susceptible to poaching.
Indochinese tiger populations are continuing to decline, with an average of one tiger a week lost to poachers. But it isn’t too late. Research shows that tiger populations can bounce back quickly when their territory and prey are conserved.
This WORLD TIGER DAY, help this ENDANGERED tiger species recover, survive and thrive. Contribute with VAKOVAKO.
