So my working life has finally properly begun...and I have been doing exactly what I love, spending my time with big cats! Longleat is home to three Amur tigers, Soundari, Shouri and Svetli. Three sisters. I have already discovered that Soundari is the naughty one, Shouri is shy and Svetli is moody. I can just about tell them apart....sometimes...
The Amur tiger, also known as the Siberian tiger, is the largest of all big cats. It originally roamed throughout Western Asia, Central Asia and eastern Russia, but now it is only present in the far east of Russia. In the 1940's the Amur tiger was facing extinction, with less than 40 left in the wild. Luckily due to serious conservation efforts it was saved, and numbers are now around 400-500, but the threats to the tiger are far from over. Genetic studies have shown that there is little genetic variation, and is actually only equivalent of 30 animals.
But captive breeding may be the answer... studies have shown that some captive animals still have genes that the wild animals have now lost. Hopefully through captive breeding, and eventually re-introduction into the wild these valuable genes can be put back into the wild. But putting animals back into the wild will still be useless if we cannot make other changes. Habitat destruction and hunting could send them back onto the brink so we must ensure we keep up the conservation efforts we have already made.
Why not come and see our three beautiful Amur tigers at Longleat (and give me a wave). I have already had so many laughs watching their anticts, Soundari as she stalks her sisters and a frantic chase after a daredevil pheasant. Perhaps you will see just how incredible these animals are and just how devastating it would be to lose them!
The Amur tiger, also known as the Siberian tiger, is the largest of all big cats. It originally roamed throughout Western Asia, Central Asia and eastern Russia, but now it is only present in the far east of Russia. In the 1940's the Amur tiger was facing extinction, with less than 40 left in the wild. Luckily due to serious conservation efforts it was saved, and numbers are now around 400-500, but the threats to the tiger are far from over. Genetic studies have shown that there is little genetic variation, and is actually only equivalent of 30 animals.
But captive breeding may be the answer... studies have shown that some captive animals still have genes that the wild animals have now lost. Hopefully through captive breeding, and eventually re-introduction into the wild these valuable genes can be put back into the wild. But putting animals back into the wild will still be useless if we cannot make other changes. Habitat destruction and hunting could send them back onto the brink so we must ensure we keep up the conservation efforts we have already made.
Why not come and see our three beautiful Amur tigers at Longleat (and give me a wave). I have already had so many laughs watching their anticts, Soundari as she stalks her sisters and a frantic chase after a daredevil pheasant. Perhaps you will see just how incredible these animals are and just how devastating it would be to lose them!
