5 months old and full of energy
Day 3 of the Best of ’09 Challenge. Today’s challenge is to write about the best article I read in 2009. I read a lot. Hard to pick one article, but I did enjoy an article on the Laughing Yoga.
And today I found myself laughing at the antics of a pair of tiger cubs. Yes, laughing is great medicine for whatever ails you.
Now about those tiger cubs. This is one of two females born on July 8, 2009. The cubs, recently named Tula and Nuri, were born at the Milwaukee County Zoo in Wisconsin. They are now old enough to be making regular appearances in their indoor exhibit every day.
The name Tula is from the South African language, isiZulu, and means “quiet.” Nuri means “my flame” and is Hebrew.
After watching the two cubs play and interact for nearly an hour this morning, I am guessing that the cub in the photograph is Nuri – if she is living up to the meaning of her name. She spent most of the time chasing her sister, and when the other cub finally dropped in her tracks to take a nap, Nuri took a few pounces on her sleeping sister. Tula turned her back on the more rambunctious cub, and Nuri posed – briefly – before taking another pounce towards her watchful mother.
Cyber
This is the newest animal on exhibit at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, and he is an awesome, handsome animal. Cyber is a 9 year old Amur Tiger, also known as a Siberian Tiger. His species of big cats is the largest in size, and one of the most critically endangered. Fully mature, he will stretch nearly 14 feet in length and weigh about 650 pounds. There are only 450 Amur Tigers left in the world – 300 in the wild and 150 in zoos. Their habitat is so fragile, there is fear that there will be no tigers–no tigers of any species–left in the wild in just a couple of years.
The Siberian tiger differs in appearance from the Bengal tiger by its thicker mane which wraps around its neck and part of its head. Considering its habitat is mostly in eastern Russia (Siberia), the tigers can probably use the extra cuff for warmth.
Cyber, on a Roll
A recently as 80 years ago, there were 8 known sub-species of tigers. However in the 20th Century, 3 of the 8 species became extinct. The Siberian tiger is considered “critically” endangered – the most serious of the endangered categories, though a breeding program in international zoos based in China, Europe and North America appears to be fairly successful.
The 5 remaining sub-species of tigers, from most common to least common/most endangered, are the Bengal (India, Bangladesh, Nepal), the Indochinese (Cambodia, China, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam), the Malayan (Malay Peninsula), the Sumatran (Indonesian island of Sumatra), the Siberian (eastern Siberia), and also the South China Tiger (South China) which will almost certainly soon be extinct. There are fewer than 60 of the South China Tigers, all in captivity, from a gene pool of only 6 tigers, which is not enough to save the species. There has only been one sighting of this tiger in the wild since 1983.
