WildView™

May 6, 2024

Majestic and Fierce

- as seen by -

Alisa Esannason

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It was a cloudy day. My friends and I were at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo and we headed for Tiger Mountain. We were excited to see these majestic and fierce animals. At first, we thought there were no big cats. We slowly turned around, and suddenly there was a huge Amur tiger (Tigris panthera altaica) staring right at us. We were all stunned by this amazing encounter.

I was surprised by how large and aware the tiger was in its surroundings. These big cats can weigh as much as 400 lbs. I had to take a photo of this moment because to me this could be a once-in-a-lifetime experience since I have learned that Amur tigers are endangered in the wild. I will definitely go back again.

EDITOR’S NOTE: In the wild, Amur tigers need large forest ecosystems to live. Human activities are causing their habitat to shrink. Conservation efforts have helped their numbers, but there are still threats and Amur tigers remain endangered.

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