common name: mountain zebra 
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What is being done to protect Mountain Zebras: They are being kept in protected environments where the group size, individual identies, activity, location, and other changes such as the birth of a foal (Baby mountain zebra) are tracked. They also keep track of their zerbas and their parents that way it is possible to look back at a family tree if needed for medical purposes.
The White Tiger is a large and
powerful animal that can weigh up to 300kg and reaches more than 3 meters in
length. White
Tigers aren't albino as they still carry some form of pigment that creates
their fur color. Like other Tiger species, the White Tiger has black or
dark brown stripes that run vertically along it's body, the pattern of which is
unique to both the Tiger species. Along with the change in
fur color, the gene carried by the White Tiger's parents also means that they have
blue eyes rather than the green or yellow colored eyes of normal Bengal Tigers.
Despite the beauty of the White Tiger's fur it give these
individuals a disadvantage as they are not so easily camouflaged into the
surrounding jungle.
The
White Tiger would once have been found throughout much of India and the
surrounding countries but their range has decreased dramatically, particularly
over the past 100 years or so. Today the Bengal Tiger is found in small pockets
of its natural habitat in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, and although
populations are severely declining, they remain the most numerous Tiger species
in the world. They are found in a variety of habitats including tropical
forests, mangrove swamps and moist jungles that generally support dense
vegetation and have a good source of fresh water. Although the White Tiger
could once be found in the wild, it is very rare for the gene carrying parents
to actually mate, and with the rapidly declining numbers of Bengal Tigers
throughout their natural range, the chances of White Tigers being produced are
becoming less every day.
The White Tiger is a carnivorous animal meaning that it only hunts and
eats other animals in order to gain the nutrition that it needs. The White
Tiger is an apex predator in its environment. It hunts its prey by stalking it
stealthily in the night. The White Tiger primarily hunts
herbivorous like Deer, Wild Boar, Cattle and Goats that feed both
in the jungle and on its outskirts. The White Tiger has a number of adaptations
to help it to both catch and kill its prey, including being strong and
powerful, incredibly fast, and having long and sharp claws and teeth. With Human settlements pushing the White Bengal Tiger into smaller and
smaller pockets of its historical range, they are being forced to hunt
and kill livestock.
In its natural environment, the
White Tiger has no predators due to the fact that it is such a big and powerful
animal itself. They are however severely affected by people and have been for
hundreds of years, as they have been both captured and hunted for their beauty, With the loss in forest,
there is also a decline in the White Tiger's prey so populations are becoming
increasingly harder to sustain. The fact that the few Bengal Tigers that remain
in the wild are becoming more and more isolated means that there is less of a
chance that White Tigers will be produced, and this coupled with the severe
declines in population numbers could mean that White Tigers have disappeared
from the wild forever.
