Hogwarts Daily News Issue #103
written by Lucy Peña
Read a new story by one of our writers named The Ticking Clock! Here are some awesome Harry Potter podcasts to check out! Read about the Quibbler’s history! Look at some hilarious HP character impression videos!
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
13
Reads
635
Animals Need Us! - Cats
Chapter 6
Animals Need Us! - Cats
-Introduction-
In this article we are talking about one of my favorite animals, cats. If you’re like me, and love cats you understand why we need to help them. The two cats I’m going to talk about are the Amur Leopard and the Sunda Tiger. Here are some facts about them and some threats as well.
-Amur Leopard-
Most people think that leopards only live in the savannas of Africa, they are sadly mistaken. Because in the far East of Russia there’s a rare species that has adapted to life in the temperate forests that mark the northernmost parts of the leopard’s range. Like other’s of its kind, Amur leopards can run at speeds of 37 miles per hour. The leopard can leap more than 19 feet horizontally and 10 feet vertically.
Amur Leopards are solitary, nimble-footed and strong. Unlike most cats it carries and hides unfinished kills so other predators can’t take them. Some reports even say that males stay with females after mating, and may even help raise young. Several males can sometimes, follow and fight over a female. This species can live from 10-15 years, much like a house cat, though one of my cats lived till the age of 18. In captivity they can live up to 20 years. Other names include the Far East Leopard, Manchurian Leopard, or the Korean Leopard.
-Why They Matter-
The Amur leopard is important to the ecological economy and culture. Conservation of it’s habitat can benefit other species, that includes Amur Tigers and even deer.
-Threats-
The Amur Leopard is known for its spotted fur. In 1999, there was an undercover investigation team who recovered fur from a female Amur Leopard. At the time it was being sold for 500-1,00 dollars in a village called Barabash, not far from the Kedrovaya Pad Reserve. Villages surround the forests where the leopards live, making the forests relatively accessible, creating the poaching problem. Not just for the leopards, it also affects the prey, including roe deer, sika deer, and hare. All of which are hunted for food and cash.
-Sunda Tiger-
Sunda Tigers are distinguished with heavy black stripes of their orange coats. The remaining tigers (less than 400 today) have taken refuge in the remaining patches of forest on the island of Sumatra. With the amount of poaching this tiger could go extinct like its Javan and Balinese counterparts.
In Indonesia, if you are caught hunting tigers you could face jail time and heavy fines. Despite the increased efforts the tiger is still being hunted and poached. The efforts include; strengthened law enforcement and anti poaching capacity.The tigers are losing their home and prey fast, so if the threat of poaching doesn’t stop it is imminent that they will end like the other tigers.
-Why They Matter-
Sumatra is the onl island where tigers, rhinos, orangutans, and elephants live together in the wild. The Sunda Tiger is a crucial indicator of the forest’s health and survival. Protecting tigers and their habitat benefits more than the tiger, it helps people.
-Threats-
Tigers in Sumatra are killed for commercial gain. The survey TRAFFIC, the global wildlife trade monitoring network. If you were to look at a chart you would see that about 80% of the estimated Sumatran tiger deaths amount to 40 animals per year, and that’s just the estimate. Despite tireless efforts and intensified conservation and protection it is still doubtful that poaching has declined significantly there since the 1900s.
Territory and habitat destruction forces tigers out of protected areas into human-occupied spaces. Conflicts are more than likely to happen because of this. Human-Tiger conflict is a huge problem in Sumatra, tigers have been killed or wounded by people, livestock falls prey to tigers. But has humans we take it the wrong way and kill the tigers. The tigers eat livestock because they are running out of food.
-Conclusion-
Thank you for reading, I hope you take the matter of endangerment seriously, if you have any animals you want me to write about this is the link to my page:
https://www.hogwartsishere.com/817055/
Again thank you for reading.
-By Crucia Tea, member of the HDN
Information from: https://www.worldwildlife.org
