The Tiger Crisis

By Roberto, Natasha, Daya, Aria, and Dioselyn

The Issue: Tigers are being killed, and their homes are being destroyed. Humans have cut down most of the forests where tigers used to live. Poachers are killing tigers to take their skins and sell them, even though it’s against the law. What can be done?

SHOW HIDE TRANSCRIPT

>>ARIA: Hi, I'm Aria, and welcome to NPC, Nature Preservation Channel. Today, I am here with Daya interviewing scientist Natasha she will be talking about tigers and their habitats. And now to our reporter.

>>DAYA: Hi, I am Daya, we're here to talk about tigers. Their habitat is getting destroyed by humans and they are getting killed by poachers. Now, because of these actions, tigers are endangered. And now, to our special scientist Natasha.

>>NATASHA: 5000 tigers live in the zoos in the United States. And tigers have lost 93% of their historical living range. Tiger cubs cannot hunt until they're at least 18 months old. Tigers mainly hunt elks and wild boars. When tigers hunt Elks, it seems that the tigers bright orange color would make them easy to spot. It does not! The elks are color blind, so a bright orange would seem like a light gray to elks. Tigers are an apex predator. An apex predator can eat almost any animal in its habitat. Habitat loss is affecting animals all over the world, including tigers.

>>DAYA: Wow, how interesting! And now, we're gonna go on location to talk to a tiger poacher.

>>POACHER: I am a poacher. I have to poach tigers because I have to sell the skin to support my family.

>>DAYA: That is wrong! Tiger hunting is illegal! And now we're going to a nearby resident.

>>LOCAL RESIDENT: Hi, I'm a resident in this area. I've seen poachers go into the forest and come out with dead tigers.I want to help but I don't know how.

>>DAYA: Well, there are many ways to help but one basic way is to not buy illegal animal skins because you're supporting poachers.

>>LOCAL RESIDENT: Thank you, Daya! I will never buy animal products again.

>>ARIA: The problem is that tigers are losing their habitat. This is called habitat degradation. Humans are poaching tigers and cutting down the forest that tigers live in. This is killing the tigers and we need tigers!

But, scientists are working on solutions: they are tracking and tagging tigers, they have outlawed poachery, and created special places where tigers can live without the possibility of their habitat being cut down called a sanctuary.

You can help by spreading the news, starting promotions, not littering, and taking public transit, instead of your car.

Thanks for watching NBC. I will be back with you tomorrow talking about whales!

picture of whole team and quote that says "We chose tigers to bring awareness that if we don't act soon, tigers could go from endangered to extinct."
headshot of Roberto

Roberto | Age 10

Favorite plant or animal: Dogs

Favorite book: Hilo

Favorite ice cream flavor: Vanilla

Favorite thing to do / hobby: Use phone

Favorite place or object in the Museum: Animals

What you like most about science: Learning more strange things

headshot of Natasha

Natasha | Age 10

Favorite plant or animal: Succulents for plants. I do not have a single favorite animal.

Favorite book: Warriors by Erin Hunter

Favorite ice cream flavor: Chocolate

Favorite thing to do / hobby: Drawing

Favorite place or object in the Museum: The 3rd grade fellowship classroom because of all the animals.

What you like most about science: I like science because you learn things you wouldn't other ways.

Advice to kids who think science is boring: Science is a very broad topic, so you shoudn't say you don't like it if you haven't tried it all: chemistry, biology, geography, herpetology, astrophysics, etc.

headshot of Daya

Daya | Age 10

Favorite plant or animal: Humans

Favorite book: Tucket's Travels

Favorite ice cream flavor: Mint chocolate chip

Favorite thing to do / hobby: Math

Favorite place or object in the Museum: The big blue whale

What you like most about science: Experiments, because we can see differences in the long term and how it effects something

Advice to kids who think science is boring: Be more engaged, be interactive, and ask questions

headshot of Aria

Aria | Age 10

Favorite plant or animal: Liger, Angora rabbit and Teddy Guinea pig

Favorite book: The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Breathing Room and The Phantom Tollbooth

Favorite thing to do / hobby: Fence and hang out with my friends

Favorite place or object in the Museum: The Hall of African Mammals

What you like most about science: Everything! Science is super fun, and very interesting

Advice to kids who think science is boring: Everything in this world is science. Your cellphone is science, and even the slime you make at home is science. If you like anything, you like science.

headshot of Dioselyn

Dioselyn: Age 9

Favorite plant or animal: Black mamba and Venus flytrap

Favorite book: Harry Potter

Favorite ice cream flavor: Cookies and cream

Favorite thing to do / hobby: Play video games

Favorite place or object in the Museum: The Planetarium

What you like most about science: I like to do experiments and dissections. I also like to learn about why things happen.

Advice to kids who think science is boring: I would tell them to actually focus on science and to join a science program because they might really love it.

Image credits

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Image Credits:

IMAGES
Siberian tigress with her cub, Dave Pape via wikipedia/Public Domain; tiger cub, Public Domain; tiger in the jungle, Mathias Appel via wikimedia/Public Domain; tiger roaring, sphere.com/Creative Commons CC0; jungle, via sphere.com/CC0 Public Domain; tiger with radio collar, PR Ganapathy via wikimedia/CC BY-SA 4.0, tiger reserve,अपना काम via wikipedia/CC BY-SA 4.0.

AUDIO
News music, chimerical via freesounds/CC BY-NC 3.0; tiger roar, videog via free sound.org/CC BY 3.0; jungle, 130221 via freesound.org/CC0 1.0, Indian village, Biswarup Ganguly via wikimedia/GNU Free Documentation License.