Woburn Animal Series - 10) Tiger
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This series of caches have been set as a dedication to the nearby Woburn Safari Park. The series consists of 15 caches on an approximately 3 1/2 mile circular walk. The terrain can be muddy, especially after rain, although a good pair of walking boots should not prevent you from completing the series. The caches range from a nano to an ammo can and all sizes in between.
We have tried to make these caches interesting for children. You may want to print out each cache page and read them out as you walk round!
There is no ivy although there might be prickles!
Woburn Safari Park is part of the Woburn Estate, which has belonged to the Dukes of Bedford for over 450 years. The Safari Park was created by the 13th Duke of Bedford in 1970 and covers 300 acres.
Being a Safari Park, visitors can drive round, allowing them to be just inches from rhinos, tigers and lions (not to mention monkeys!)
The Safari Park is also the home of some very rare species and is well known for it's breeding programmes. In 1985, the Duke sent 50 Pere David deer, descended from animals originally brought to the Park by the 11th Duke, to be introduced to the Imperial Park in Beijing. During the Boxer Rebellion all the Pere David Deer were killed. The species was saved from extinction and returned to its native homeland after it had been extinct in the wild for over 100 years.
In 1901, the 11th Duke also introduced the Przewalski Horse, which actually saved it from extinction. In 2007, two foals were born. Amongst others born in 2007 were endangered bongo antelopes, baby squirrel monkeys, 2 rare Rothschild giraffes and a Yellow Asian pond turtle, hatchling which is the first time this critically endangered turtle has bred in Europe.
As you are going around these caches, you are likely to bump into some Muntjac Deer. These deer are not indigenous to the UK, being from South East Asia and India. They escaped from the Woburn Estate not long after introduction. Originally, they only lived within a 20 mile radius of Woburn, however, today they appear all along the M4 corridor and have been seen as far away as Wales. These are very small deer, often less than 2 foot tall, and are frightened very easily. Unless the wind is strong, they will pick up your scent often before you spot them. They can often be mistaken for dogs or even hares (and do the same sort of damage as hares and rabbits). They are particularly prevalent around the beginning of the year and throughout spring.
"The Tiger" is a small, blue tupperware box.
tiger, large carnivore of the cat family, Panthera tigris, found in the forests of Asia. There are six subspecies of P. tigris: Amur or Siberian, Sumatran, Malayan, North Indochinese, Bengal, and South China or Amoy. The differences in subspecies are defined for the most part by their ranges. Amur tigers, commonly called Siberian, are native to the area of the Amur River in China, North Korea, and Russia. The Sumatran tiger is found only in Sumatra, the Malayan on the Malay Peninsula, the North Indochinese in parts of Indochina and S China; the South China tiger in central and E China, and the Bengal tiger in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar. Their habitats range from mountain forests to equatorial rain forests.
Tigers are the largest species of the cat family. Male tigers are generally about 8 to 10 ft (2.4–3 m) long, including the 3-ft (1.8-m) tail. The Siberian tiger may be 13 ft (4 m) long, including the tail, and weigh 650 lb (290 kg), much larger than any lion. The coat of the tiger is orange-yellow with numerous prominent black stripes; black and albino specimens are sometimes found. The Siberian tiger tends to be the lightest in coloring. The male tiger has no mane comparable to that of a lion, although it may have a ruff around the sides of the head. Tigers and lions are quite similar anatomically and can be interbred.
Tigers are solitary animals and usually hunt at night. A male tiger will have a large range that will overlap with the ranges of several females. Females give birth to two or three cubs, which they raise and train for about two years. Tigers kill a variety of animals, including deer, antelope, wild pigs, and cattle. Tigers try to remain out of sight and hearing of their enemies, especially humans; they prefer fleeing to fighting. They can be killed by wild dogs, elephants, and water buffalos. Man-eating tigers are usually individuals who are too old or sick to capture wild animals. Tigers are good swimmers and enjoy bathing, especially in hot weather, which appears to make them quite uncomfortable. They are poor climbers, taking to trees only in emergencies.
The tiger is an endangered species. Trophy hunting of tigers was a common "sport" in the past, especially during the time of the Raj in India, when tens of thousands of Bengal tigers were shot. The greatest threats to the tiger now, however, are loss of natural habitat, loss of prey species such as deer and wild cattle to hunting by humans, and poaching. Tiger bone is used in traditional Chinese medicines to treat a variety of ailments, including rheumatism and impotence, and its sale and use continue despite a ban imposed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 1976.
Three tiger subspecies, the Caspian, Javan, and Balinese tigers, are extinct; the South China tiger is very near extinction. According to 1995 population estimates, the Bengal tiger is believed to be the most numerous, with an estimated surviving population of 4,000. It is followed by the Indochinese tiger (1,100), the Sumatran tiger (400), and the Siberian tiger (250). Some population rebounds have been noted since then, however, in eastern Siberia, Nepal, and some parts of India owing to increased conservation efforts, but more recently the Bengal tiger population in India has suffered from serious poaching for the Chinese medicinal and animal skin markets. Captive breeding programs for tigers have met with considerable success but are plagued by a lack of space and the problem of maintaining genetic purity between subspecies that are defined more by range than by biological differences.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
znlor n gebyy?