We join the celebration of the International Tiger Day with the objective of raising awareness among the people about the conservation problems that threaten the survival of this species, of which three subspecies are officially considered extinct, such as the Caspian tiger, from Bali and Java. We have developed a complete programme of educational activities for visitors and children of the summer school that took place last week.
Among the actions undertaken, an information point was installed in the area where the public can closely observe the family of Bengal tigers. The zookeepers showed the visitors biological elements such as a naturalized skull or a mould of tiger footprint, and gave talks to make known in detail the morphological characteristics of these animals and the threats to which they are subjected in their places of origin.
Nearly 80 children of the summer school participated in a drawing and writing competition focused on the figure of this feline, they also made environmental enrichment boxes with animal forms in which they introduced food for tigers.
The zookeepers of Terra Natura Benidorm influenced the factors that most threaten tiger populations worldwide. Among them, poaching, loss of habitat, scarcity of prey that make up their diet, competition with humans for space and the proliferation of diseases that reduce the population.
The success of conservation programmes is allowing the tiger population to recover gradually, according to a WWF report, it is the first time in more than 100 years that the number of tigers has increased worldwide.