Tiger

Tiger (Panthera tigris)

Tigers used to occur across Asia as far west as Turkey, and isolated populations developed into eight different subspecies. Within their huge range tigers have adapted to conditions ranging from bleak mountain forests to mangrove swamps and jungle. Since the beginning of the 20th century numbers have sharply declined, usually through conflict with humans. Tigers are large and fierce animals. They need to kill to eat and will often kill domestic animals and even people. Their own habitat has been reduced by farming and logging to the point where natural prey is difficult to obtain in sufficient quantity. Humans [Read more]

Importance to humans ( mammal )

Wild and domesticated mammals are so interlocked with our political and social history that it is impractical to attempt to assess the relationship in precise economic terms. Throughout our own evolution, for example, humans have depended on other mammals for food and clothing. Domestication of mammals helped to provide a source of protein for ever-increasing human populations and provided means of transportation and heavy work as well. Today, domesticated strains of the house mouse, European rabbit, guinea pig, hamster, gerbil, and other species provide much-needed laboratory subjects for the study of human-related physiology, psychology, and a variety of diseases from dental caries to cancer. The study of nonhuman primates (monkeys and apes) has opened broad new areas of research relevant to human welfare. [Read more]

Animal life ( from China )

Profusion of vegetation and a variety of relief have fostered the development of a great diversity of animal life and have permitted the survival of animals that elsewhere are extinct. Notable among such survivals are the great paddlefish of the Yangtze, the small species of alligator in eastern and central China, and the giant salamander (related to the Japanese giant salamander and the American hellbender) in western China. The diversity of animal life is perhaps greatest in the ranges and valleys of Tibet and Szechwan, to which region the giant panda is confined. The takin, or goat antelope, numerous species of pheasants, and a variety of laughing thrushes are to be found in all the Chinese mountains. China seems to be one of the chief centres of dispersal of the carp family and [Read more]

Animal life ( from Ural Mountains )

There are no specifically mountain animals in the Urals, primarily because of the low elevations and easy accessibility, and fauna differs little from that of the adjacent areas of eastern Europe and western Siberia. The most valuable animal of the tundra is the Arctic fox. Ob lemmings, snowy owls, tundra partridge, and reindeer are other inhabitants, though the latter are few. Many wild ducks, geese, and swans breed there in summer. But the richest and most varied fauna in the Urals, including the brown bear, lynx, wolverine, and elk, are found in the forested zones. Some have valuable furs: the sable (in the north), ermine, fox, marten (in the south), Siberian weasel, and squirrel. In the taiga there [Read more]

Animal life ( from Kalahari Hindu Kush )

Well-adapted species of wildlife are found throughout the mountains. The Siberian ibex and the markhor (both wild goats) negotiate the high crags, while Marco Polo sheep and urial (another wild sheep) occasionally are found in the high pamir. Black and brown bears still exist in isolated valleys, and the Chitral valley wildlife preserve is a domain of the rare snow leopard. The rich birdlife of the mountains includes vultures and eagles. The streams of the northern slope contain brown trout in abundance. Human depredation has reduced the variety and distribution of wildlife throughout the Hindu Kush, although efforts to [Read more]

Animal life ( from Mangolia )

The varied natural conditions, the interior location, and the sparse human population of Mongolia all contribute to a rich and diverse wildlife that has attracted international attention and has commercial importance. Lying on the borders of several distinct zoogeographic regions (the Tibetan, the Afghano-Turkistani, the Siberian, and the North-Chinese-Manchurian), the country has a fauna combining species from each of them. The northern forests harbour lynx, maral (Asiatic red deer), elk, roe deer, musk deer, brown bears, snow leopards, wolverines, wild boars, squirrels, and sables. The steppes are the home of, among others, the marmot whose pelts are important [Read more]