Spider
a Tiger
Born February 25, 1992,
Spider originally had a show business career, as one of a group of cubs tagging
along after their Esso (Exxon) tiger "father" in a British
commercial. He then was destined for the mall photo circuit, traveling
from town to town and posing for photographs with children--a difficult and
stressful life for the young cubs that are put through it. He was donated to
Shambala instead, arriving in June of that year, along with his brothers, Whitey and the late Dagger.
Spider got his name from the pattern of stripes on his forehead, and from his
tendency as a baby to crawl on his belly. He has grown into a large, fine adult
tiger.
The tiger (panthera tigris)
is the largest of the big cats. Bengal tigers (panthera tigris tigris)
are smaller than the Siberian tigers. A male stands between 2 and 3 feet tall at
the shoulder. They can measure 8 to 9 feet long from head to tip of tail. They
can weigh from 400 to 500 pounds. The female Bengal tiger is slightly smaller.
The tiger is mostly nocturnal, sleeping throughout the day. Like all subspecies
of tigers, the male Bengal is solitary, shunning other males, and the female
lives in family units. Bengal tigers are carnivorous, and can live over 20 years
in captivity. Unlike the African lion, tigers enjoy the water, preferring to
live in close proximity to streams, rivers and lakes. Their stripe patterns are
as individual as a fingerprint, and the pattern goes all the way to the skin,
not just on the fur. One of our vets, some years ago, after operating on one of
our tigers, very proudly reported that he had successfully matched the stripes
when sewing the incision!
In the wild, the Bengal
tiger is found throughout the Indian subcontinent. It is believed that none are
left in Pakistan, and only a small number can be found in Bangladesh. The Bengal
tiger's main stronghold is Nepal and the reserves in that area may offer one of
the best chances for saving this beautiful predator from extinction. India today
has the largest number of tigers, with between 3,300 and 4,700 in the wild.
In 1930 it was believed
that there were at least 100,000 of the eight subspecies of tiger in various
parts of Asia. Probably fewer than 6,000 of these magnificent animals remain in
the wild today. In the last two decades alone, the world has seen two subspecies
of tigers disappear forever. By the 1950s, tigers living around the Caspian Sea
were extinct. Populations of tigers that once inhabited the islands of Bali and
Java are now extinct. The last Balinese tiger was killed in the 1930s; the last
Javan tiger sighting occurred in 1972. The South China tiger, with at best 20 to
30 individuals, is nearly extinct in the wild, and the Siberian tigers number
only 300 to 400. Much of their habitat has been destroyed by war or by
government agricultural programs in the various Asian nations. Poaching is also
taking its toll; both for the beautiful striped coats and for a thriving black
market in tiger body parts for "medicinal" purposes.
All of us at Shambala
would like to join Spider in thanking you for your kind and generous support.
Would you like to
"adopt" Spider, or one of our other "Wild Ones?"
Check out our exciting "Adopt-a-Wild
One" program!