Land Mammals, features and articles | Educational Science

Jul 26, 2011

Gallery: Tiger Species of the World

The Tiger Family (Image credit: Eric Gevaert | Dreamstime)The beautiful and regal tiger (Panthera tigris) has nine current subspecies, three of which are extinct. Here are the six species that remain — all of which are endangered or critically endangered, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature...

Oct 12, 2011

New Cubs Offer Hope for Tigers, But Cats Still Facing Extinction

On July 9, the Oklahoma City Zoo welcomed the birth of four Sumatran tiger cubs, zoo officials announced last week. The cubs, one male and three female, are the first Sumatran tigers to be born at the zoo, and are the result of the zoo's tiger mating program, an arduous...

Dec 1, 2011

World's Oldest Tiger Species Discovered

The oldest extinct species of tiger known yet has been discovered in China, scientists say. Although the skull of the more than 2-million-year-old fossil is smaller than most modern tigers, it appears very similar in shape, researchers added. The tiger (Panthera tigris) is one of the largest living cats, a...

Mar 1, 2012

Prime Real Estate for Sumatran Tigers? Lush Forests

Sumatran tigers love to lounge in forests far from humans, new research suggests. They prefer these pristine forest habitats to human-disturbed sites like plantations, which they tend to avoid. What do they love about the forests? The understory cover — plants that shield light from above at ground level. They...

Apr 27, 2012

How Do Tigers Get Their Stripes? Science Not So Certain Now

A decades-old explanation for how tigers get their stripes has come into question as researchers challenge what’s called the morphogen theory. The research does not nix the theory, but science may now have a hypothetical tiger by the tail as they try to figure out this aspect of how Nature...

Jun 4, 2012

Marty the Amur Tiger Makes His Move

A male Amur tiger, part of an extremely threatened species, has moved in with female tiger Dominica in the Scottish Highlands, and the pairing is already proving to be a 'roaring' success, according to zoo officials. Marty, the thre-year-old tiger, is a powerful and agile youngster. Amur tigers are the...

Jun 20, 2012

Cameras Spy Endangered Siberian Tiger in China

Photos of the endangered Amur, or Siberian tiger, have been taken for the first time by a camera trap in a nature reserve in northeast China, suggesting that the cats are expanding their range south from Russia where they are more plentiful. The two photos were taken in April in...

Jul 31, 2012

Tiger Population in Nepal Park Doubles in 2 Years

Camera traps in Nepal's Bardia National Park identified 37 tigers living in and near the park in 2011, a marked increase from two years before when only 18 were recorded there, according to the conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Shubash Lohani, a researcher with the group originally from Nepal,...

Aug 28, 2012

Black-Market Tiger Skins Found in Russia

Authorities say they have seized eight Siberian tiger skins in a sting operation in Russia, a grim recovery hinting that black-market demand for the big cats remains high. Acting on a tip, local police raided a home in Arseniev, a tiny city near Russia's border with North Korea, where they...

Aug 29, 2012

Endangered Tiger Cubs Caught on Camera Near Proposed Dam

Two endangered tiger cubs and their mother have been caught on film in Thailand near the site of a proposed hydroelectric dam. The black-and-white footage, taken in May, shows a mother tiger investigating a camera trap near the Mae Wong River. After a moment, her two cubs bound through the...

Sep 4, 2012

Tigers Work the Night Shift in Nepal

In the forests of Nepal, daytime belongs to humans, but the night is the time of the tigers, a new study finds. The results may reveal how people and predatory cats manage to coexist. A two-year study of video from more than 70 motion-activated cameras near Chitwan National Park in...

Dec 12, 2012

Tiger Saved from Barbed Wire in India

A female wild tiger is recovering at a zoo in India after getting ensnared in a barbed wire fence on a coffee plantation last week. Wildlife officials are commending how the potentially dangerous situation was handled. The tigress was found on Dec. 4, with its left paw entangled in the...

Dec 27, 2012

In Images: Tigers Rebound in Asia

A roaring success (Image credit: Wildlife Conservation Society.)Camera trap images from India, Thailand and Russia show tigers are on the rebound in three key landscapes across the big cat's range in Asia, according to the conservation group the Wildlife Conservation Society. The group attributes the progress to better law enforcement,...

Dec 27, 2012

Tigers Making Comeback in Asia

Camera trap images reveal tiger numbers rebounding across Asia, especially in southwestern India, where young tigers are leaving protected reserves due to population pressure, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society. The WCS attributes the rise in different tiger groups to better law enforcement and protection of additional habitat. For example,...

Jan 24, 2013

In Images: Tigers Thrive in India National Park

A conservation success (Image credit: TCRI/Aaranyak)In India's Kaziranga National Park, tigers can grow fat feasting on hog deer, water buffalo and elephants. The park has the world's highest density of tigers, according to camera trap surveys conducted from 2009 to 2011 by Aaranyak, a non-profit wildlife conservation society in India....