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Imagine you are a Bengal Tiger, crawling along the forest floor, creeping up on a small deer-size animal. Suddenly, a large machine is roaring behind you, flattening trees and your home along with it. This is what happens to the Bengal tigers when people expand the land they need for business or crops. The Bengal Tiger is the National animal of India. The Bengal tigers are an endangered species, living mainly in India. These tigers can weigh up to 600 pounds and are strong enough to drag a 1,000 pound carcass. All tigers can see six times better than humans in the dark, and their sense of smell is twenty times stronger than a humans. The Bengal tiger has a unique coat of fur that helps it to blend into its environment. They use their coats as a method of hiding to attack their prey and for camouflage. Bengal tigers can grow to be 3 meters (ten feet) long.



We chose to do our research on Bengal tigers because they seemed like a very interesting topic to learn about. We knew we wanted to do our research on an endangered species, because we all love animals. We also all like cats, so we chose Bengal tigers. So, we started to research Bengal tigers, and we found that they are a very cool breed of tiger. They actually live by the ocean, which none of us would have guessed. We also chose to research them because we could learn something new. We are all glad that we chose to research Bengal tigers, and we hope you learn a lot from the following paragraphs!



Bengal tigers are going extinct for many reasons, mostly man-made ones. One large issue is that people kill the tigers for their skin and body parts, either to sell or to make something out of. Some common things made from parts of Bengal tigers are soups, medicines, energy drinks, or decorative items. There are also myths about the tigers’ strength; so many people want the bones because they think it will give them strength. Also, some people poach the tigers just to sell the skin; they do not use anything else from the tiger. Another big problem is that we are destroying the tigers’ habitat to make more room for schools, roads, factories, and farm lands. Rising seas could also engulf the tigers’ habitat by the Mangrove forest in Bangladesh. Also, after floods or storms people go into the tigers’ territory for fresh food and water. Tigers in Russia and China are sold by the gram and kilo depending on where they are being sold, who is buying, and who is selling. All of these causes of the Bengal tigers’ extinction are terrible and should be stopped.



Many Bengal tigers live in captivity instead of the wild. The approximate age of a tiger in captivity is 20 years, whereas the approximate age of a tiger in the wild is only 15 years. In 2009 there were about 2,500 tigers left in the wild. There are 28 wild tiger reserves in India helping to protect these cats. Tigers in Moscow are also being protected. There are 66 tiger zones in India, with a total population of about 3,250-4,700. There are also tiger zones in Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. Nepal tiger zones have between 150-250 tigers each, Bhutan tiger zones have between 50-250 tigers each, and Bangladesh tiger zones have between 300-450 tigers each. Tigers are also kept and bred in zoos, where people can come to see them. Both zoos and tiger zones are important to bringing the tiger back!



There are many different places in the world that Bengal tigers live. They are the most densely populated in India, the Indian Jungle, and Sundarbans. Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world. It covers over 6,000 square miles of land. The Bengal tigers also live in Nepal, Bangladesh, Russia, China, and Bhutan. Some tigers are kept in the Kahna National Park in India. Tigers can be found in 18 different states in India. They usually live in thorn forests, tropical forests, and deciduous forests. They also live in mountainous regions. Tigers living on islands seem to disappear, which is not good for their population

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Tigers are carnivores, which means they consume meat for their diet. Besides eating meat Bengal tigers also eat termites and other small bugs. Some large-body prey they eat are elephant calves, deer, pigs, cows, buffaloes, horses, and goats. They usually catch animals that weigh 45 pounds or more. Bengal tigers use their sense of sight and their sense of hearing to get food rather than their sense of smell. Tigers usually hunt at night. To kill their prey tigers bite their neck or throat until they bleed to death. It is estimated that every tiger consumes 50 or more deer-sized animals every year. Tigers can eat more than 80 pounds of meat in a day, which is the equivalent to 70 large T-bone steaks. Tigers also eat snakes.



There are many ways that we can help to repopulate the Bengal tigers. There are groups that raise funds to save tigers, such as Save The Tiger Fund, Wildlife Protection Society of India, and the World Wildlife Fund. There are also websites you can visit such as wildlife.in, savethetigerfund.org , and wpsi-india.org/wpsi/index.php. You can also do things like not using products or getting food from places on the tigers’ land. You can donate money to funds that help to save tigers, and you can support zoos near you to get more tigers. Help to bring the tigers back!





Citations: - Time for Kids News Scoop Edition, 2/12/2010, Volume 15, Issue 18, pg.4, article - Weekly Reader News, Edition 3, Volume 78, pg.1-4, 5/1/2011 - www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/tiger/diet.htm - http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/bengal-tiger/

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By: Heather Tolvay, Emma Vankirk, and Sophia Theilacker



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