21st Century Tiger throughout 2012 to support their efforts to protect tigers all over the world.
Established in 1997, 21st Century Tiger is a wild tiger conservation project founded on a partnership between the Zoological Society of London and Global Tiger Patrol . The project raises funds for a variety of tiger conservation efforts in the field and since its inception has become one of the top seven funding agencies of its kind globally contributing to more than 60 tiger conservation projects in seven countries.
The work they do is extremely important, very much in keeping with our own commitment to conservation and 100% of the funds they raise goes directly to wild tiger conservation projects.
Activities:
The Tiger Trail - a fun way to make your way around the zoo spotting all our hidden tigers and collecting the tiger facts to win a prize plus the chance to Meet the Tigers up-close and personal.
Prize Draws - our fantastic raffle includes over £1000 worth of prizes including DZP gift experience and a host of other great prizes donated by local companies.
Mini Adoptions - with our mini adoptions you can pick up a great DZP keyring featuring the tiger of your choice. 100% of the profits will go to 21st Century Tiger.
Up-Dates:
There will be other activities throughout the year including a fundraising challenge for local schools. We'll keep you up-to-date on this page as well as our Twitter and Facebook profiles.
You can keep up-to-date with 21st Cebtury Tiger on their Facebook page , follow them on Twitter and find out all about their work on their web site.
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Donate:
We hope you can join us to support 21st Century Tiger here at the zoo. If not you can make a donation here:
Tiger Facts
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DZP has Siberian (Amur) tigers. The Latin name is 'Panthera tigris altaica'
Our Amur tigers are Vlad, his sisters, Blotch & Stripe & their Auntie, Tazmin
Our Amur tigers, Vlad, Blotch & Stripe are all 11 years old. They were hand reared at DZP
Our Amur tiger, Tazmin can’t live with the other tigers because she is wild
The tiger is the biggest of the Big Cats and the Amur tiger is the biggest of the tigers
The Amur tiger can be found mainly in Russia. There were 331–393 in 2005
Estimates suggest that if the Amur tiger survives in China at all, numbers are around 20
Tigers are phenomenal predators. They have been known to tackle bears
As prey, tigers prefer brown bears to black - they live in open areas & don’t climb trees
Like domestic cats a tiger’s preferred hunting method is solitary ambush
Bears form a small part of tiger diet. Tackling a bear can sometimes be fatal for the tiger
Tigers have been reported to imitate the calls of Asian black bears to attract them
Bears have been known to avoid tigers when they find evidence in their territory
Bears will sometimes challenge tigers over a recent tiger kill. They often win
Wolves & tigers have very similar diets which causes intense competition
Competition for food means a healthy tiger population is bad news for wolves
Wolves in tiger regions rarely form large packs preferring to act alone or in small groups
Tigers sometimes chase wolves from their kills & wolves will scavenge tiger kills
Female Amur tigers signal their receptiveness to mating by leaving urine & scratches on trees
Amur tigers are mostly solitary. When mating pairs will spend around 6 days together
A female Amur tiger will usually give birth to 2 - 4 cubs but some litters can be as many as 6
Amur tiger cubs are born blind. The mother will leave them alone while hunting for food
Female Amur tiger cubs remain with their mothers longer, & later establish territories close by
Males Amur tiger cubs leave early in life & travel alone further than females
The solitary existence of young male Amur tigers makes them vulnerable to poachers and other tigers
Amur tiger research uses radio collars to study social structure, land use, & their relation with humans
Tiger conservation efforts include finding ways to reduce human-tiger conflicts
The captive breeding of Amur tigers is the longest running program for a tiger subspecies
Captive breeding of Amur tigers has been very productive, creating a healthy captive population
Amur tigers very rarely attack humans. Attacks can often be attributed to provocation by poachers
Tigers once ranged across Asia, from Turkey to the eastern coast of Russia
Research suggests that over the past 100 years, tigers have lost 93% of their historic range
The global wild tiger population is estimated to between 3,062 to 3,948 individuals
Today, most wild tiger populations occur in small isolated pockets
Major reasons for wild tiger population decline include habitat destruction & fragmentation & poaching
Of the 9 subspecies of tiger, the Bali, Caspian & Javan tiger are already extinct
The 6 surviving tiger subspecies are: Indochinese, Malayan, Sumatran, Siberian, South China
The Bali tiger is extinct. Limited to the island of Bali, last seen in 1937
The Caspian tiger is extinct last seen in the wild in the early 1970s
The Javan tiger is extinct. Limited to the island of Java, last seen in the wild in mid 1970s
The Bali tiger was hunted to extinction. It still plays an important role in Balinese Hinduism
The Caspian tiger is extinct. The Amur tiger is genetically its closest living relative
Adult tigers lead mostly solitary lives coming together to mate for short periods
Tigers establish & maintain home ranges to which they confine their movements
The size of a tiger's home range depends on prey & for male tigers, access to females
A tigress' territory may be around 20 km2 while the males' is 60 to 100 km2
The home range of a male tiger tends to overlap those of several females
Tigers are strong swimmers. During hot days, they often cool off in pools
Establishing his own home range is the most dangerous time for a young male tiger
When tigers dispute territory they usually settle the matter without violence
A dispute between male tigers over a female can sometimes result in death
To identify territory male tigers marks trees by spraying urine
Tigers smell the scents of other tigers with a grimace/smile called a Flehmen response
Tigers can roar but they mostly moan, hiss, growl & 'chuff'
A human bite is around 150psi. A tiger bite is around 1000psi
Tigers are worshiped in many cultures throughout the world
In Goa, there are many shrines where tigers are worshipped as deities
Tiger worship is quite common among forest-dwelling cultures
Tigers are worshiped in Vietnam. Many villages will have a temple or shrine devoted to the tiger
In many cultures, the tiger is considered a guardian deity
As figures of worship, tigers are revered for their great strength, ferocity and grace
Many people wrongly believe that the body parts of tigers are useful in medicine
One of the serious threats to tigers is the use of their body parts in oriental medicine
Many tigers are poached to sell their body parts for useless ‘medicinal’ products
Products containing tiger bone are available in modern pharmacies in Malaysia
Elephant conservation projects use tiger recordings to keep elephants from human settlements
Tiger urine is used to keep elephants away from human settlements as a conservation measure
Habitat loss makes tiger prey scarce forcing tigers to raid human settlements
Managing human/tiger conflict is an important aspect of tiger conservation
In Russia, farmers are persuaded to tolerate tigers because they take less stock than wolves
We have lost 97% of the wild tiger population in just over a century
In the 1940s the Amur tiger was on the brink of extinction - no more than 40 individuals
Thanks to comprehensive conservation efforts, the Amur tiger was saved from extinction
Once there was only around 40 Amur tigers in the wild, now there are around 400 - 450
The most immediate threat to wild tigers is poaching for the traditional medicine market
As wild tiger numbers fall, the value of their body parts rises, increasing demand
Traders in tiger parts store their stock waiting for tiger numbers to fall to increase value
Some people wrongly believe that tiger claws, teeth & whiskers have magical powers
High demand for tiger parts = increased poaching
In Sumatra, 160 tigers were poached in 4 years. The total population is around 400
Fragmentation of wild tiger habitats isolates populations
Connecting isolated populations in fragmented habitats is a major part of tiger conservation
Tigers are an important part of our collection and we are delighted to be working with 
Fundraising activities will kick off in the February Half Term and last throughout the year. They will include:
