The White Tiger Video

Bear Bile Farms [China]

Bear bile farm
http://www.sickchirpse.com/chinese-bear-bile-farming/4/

Uses

Bile is a fluid made by the liver and stored in the gallbladder to help aid digestion. It has been used as an ingredient in traditional Asian medicines for thousands of years. The fluid contains high levels of ursodexoycholic acid (UDCA) which has been proven to be effective at treating liver and gallbladder issues. Bear bile is also used as a treatment for fever, heart disease, headaches and cancer, however, there is no evidence to suggest it is effective in treating these problems. There are currently thought to be about 12,000 bears in bile farms across China, Korea, and Laos. 10,000 of which can be found in China alone. There are a number of methods of bile extraction, but all are described as painful and invasive by animal rights activists. This has been disputed by the head of the Chinese Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine (2012), Fang Shuting, who described the process as 'natural, easy and without pain' and thought that it 'might even be a very comfortable process'. This seems unlikely however, as these bears have catheters or tubes inserted into their gallbladder, some of which are left in permanently. Some bears have holes made in their abdomen and gallbladder, and are then left to allow the bile to drip out. These bears have been seen to display a number of unnatural behaviours associated with severe stress, such as self mutilation and voluntary starvation, and often contract diseases and infection from poor sanitation. It is very rarely disputed that the conditions endured by these bears is horrific and incredibly cruel. 

Purpose

While bear bile farms have been outlawed in countries such as Vietnam, it is still legal and defended by the government, in countries such as China. They claim bear bile farms are an effective way of conserving bear species  by protecting them from poaching. The most commonly found bear in bile farms is the Asian black bear which is classed as vulnerable on the IUCN red list. Sun bears and brown bears are also used, the sun bear is classed as vulnerable while the brown bear is least concern. Prior to the 1980s, bears were hunted and killed for their bile. The bile was collected by removing the gallbladder from dead bears. The first bear farm opened in Korea in 1980 which allowed people to keep bears in cages and extract bile from the gallbladder throughout the bear's life without having to kill the bear. Fang Shuting, claimed that 'bear farming is the best way to protect wild bears' as the market demand was too great to be supported by the wild bear population. Chinese government officials say that without bile farms, an additional 10,000 wild bears would be killed per year. Chris Shepard from the conservation group, Traffic, claimed that there are over 50 alternatives to bear bile available but practitioners are reluctant to use them. 

Bear in bile farm
http://www.mhsuk.com/charity/

Does it help to conserve bears?

The Chinese government claimed that bear bile farms would have a positive impact on the conservation of these bear species as the farms would eliminate the necessity of poaching wild bears. In addition to this, more bile can be extracted throughout the life of a farm bear, than killing a bear in the wild. Many say this hasn't worked as, despite being illegal, it is still cheaper and easier to take bears from the wild than set up a breeding programme within the farm. Jill Robinson, head of Animals Asia, found that within a bear bile farm approximately 30% of bears had 'wounds indicating that they were wild caught'. Breeding bears in captivity involves the additional cost of maintaining denning pens for the bears to breed and providing extra food for the females during pregnancy. Instead, many farms have been accused of keeping bears individually, in cages too small for them to move, underfeeding them, and not providing sufficient water. Many consumers of traditional medicine view bile from the wild as preferable due to its natural appeal, seeming more authentic, and low levels of sanitation seen in bile farms. According to The Guardian 'no countries have shown that farms enhance bear conservation'.  In fact, it has been shown that numbers continue to fall due to habitat destruction and illegal poaching. Since this practice is legal in China, it has also allowed bear bile to be more readily available, and is now being used in more products. In 2012 the IUCN called for the phasing out of bear farms due to a lack of evidence that these farms have helped to lessen the effect of poaching on the bear population.

Alternatives

In 2015, Kaibao Pharmaceuticals, a company that supplied about half of China's bear bile, claimed that it was going to invest the equivalent of £1.3 million into researching an alternative to bear bile. They claimed that this was going to be a poultry bile, likely sourced from poultry farms already present around the country. However, this seems unnecessary as there are already so many natural alternatives to bear bile that have been proven to be effective. Most farms are owned by pharmaceutical companies who will be reluctant to shut down when they supply thousands of jobs to workers and make huge amounts of money from bear bile. The Guardian estimated that Kaibao makes around £40 million a year in net sales from bear bile. In 2011, Animals Asia carried out a poll which suggested that 87% of the Chinese population disagrees with bear bile farming but alternatives need to be accepted by doctors before they replace bear bile in pharmaceuticals in China.


More Information:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/05/160505-asiatic-bear-bile-trade-laos/
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2015/apr/09/bear-bile-china-synthetic-alternative
https://www.animalsasia.org/uk/media/news/news-archive/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-bear-bile-farming.html

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (part 1)

Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are a small breed of spaniel, classed by the Kennel Club as a toy dog. They are a separate breed to the King Charles Spaniel, despite being very similar. They are defined by a few key features, primarily a more prominent snout. Cavaliers usually weigh 13-18 lbs and live for an average of 9-15 years.

Classic King Charles Spaniels

Spaniels were originally popular with royalty, particularly King Charles II (1660-1685) who wouldn't go anywhere without two or three of his spaniels, hence why they became known as the King Charles Spaniel. After he died the popularity of spaniels died down and flat faced dogs such as pugs became more popular. Breeders began mixing the breeds to produce flatter faced spaniels which kept the name King Charles Spaniel. In the 1920s an American name Roswell Eldridge came to England in search for the classic KCS, seen during the time of King Charles II. He offered £25 at the Crufts dog show as a reward for any breeder that could produce a spaniel that looked like the ones seen during the reign of King Charles II. It wasn't until five years later, one month after his death, that a breeder with the dog Ann's Son, was able to claim the money. This reestablished the interest in the classic looking spaniels. Eventually the long-nosed spaniels became more popular and were given the name Cavalier King Charles Spaniel to differentiate them from the flat-nosed King Charles Spaniel (known in America as the English toy spaniel). In 1945 the Kennel Club recognised it as a separate breed but it wasn't until 1995 that it was recognised as a separate breed by the American Kennel Club. 

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

King Charles Spaniel today

Due to the amount of inbreeding that occurs in pedigree dogs, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel has developed numerous health problems. 

Episodic Falling Syndrome (EFS)

EFS is a recessive, genetic condition that is unique to the cavalier breed and has never been diagnosed in any other dog breed. It prevents the muscles from being able to relax, normally instigated by excitement, exercise, or frustration. Symptoms vary for each dog but could include things such as freezing/stiffness, spasms, or being unable to react to stimuli. The dog will not lose consciousness. The condition can be improved with therapy and is very rarely life threatening. Most dogs will carry on without any reaction after a mild episode and will become used to the incidents over time. There is no official cure for EFS but a study carried out in 2002 showed cavaliers with EFS improved dramatically when given a drug called clonazepam. After being given the medication for two years they were described as being almost completely cured. However, it has been suggested that being given this drug for an extended period of time can result in tolerance of the drug, causing it to lose effectiveness. 

Hip dysplasia

Hip dysplasia is a degenerative disease which can develop in any dog breed. A degenerative disease is one which will get worse with age, however it can also be affected by weight and volume of exercise. Any dog may develop hip dysplasia, however, it is a partially inherited disorder as it is more likely to occur in dogs that have been bred from parents who also suffered from hip dysplasia. Puppies will not be born with the condition, it will develop as they age. About 10% of cavaliers are diagnosed by two years old. It can cause varying degrees of arthritis and is thought to affect 12-24% of cavaliers. However, some people believe that it may be higher than this as, once the dog reaches a certain age, it will probably be diagnosed as arthritis. It can only be diagnosed accurately with an x-ray. Once diagnosed, a dog will probably be given medication to limit the pain and help increase mobility. If this is not effective then surgery may be considered. 

Mitral Valve Disease (MVD)

MVD is thought to be the leading cause of death in cavalier spaniels. It is a poly-genetic disease which means it can be caused by more than one gene and the genes responsible for MVD have yet to be identified. It affects over half of the breed by the age of five and will be present in nearly every cavalier spaniel by the age of ten. It is about 20 times more common in CKCS than other breeds of dogs. MVD is a condition that causes the degeneration of the mitral valve in the heart. This valve usually prevents any back flow when blood is pumped through the heart. MVD results in the back-flow of blood, resulting in less blood being pumped round the body. This causes symptoms such as breathlessness, a distended abdomen, lack of appetite, restlessness, weight loss, and possibly fainting. All cavaliers should be screened for a heart murmur once a year from one year old. Eventually the mitral valve will deteriorate and collapse completely, inevitably resulting in death by chronic heart failure. 

White Lies

The White Tiger

Possible offspring
Ww carries the gene but does not exhibit traits
because it is a recessive gene

The white tiger is not an albino tiger or sub species of tiger. It is in fact a genetic variant of the Bengal tiger. The colouration of the white tiger is a result of a recessive gene being passed on from parent to offspring. This genetic mutation can also happen naturally but is incredibly rare. The gene results in a pale coat (some may have an orange tint) with black markings which would not be seen on an albino tiger. It also results in a blue colouration of the eyes, instead of the usual yellow/green seen in tigers. This occurs because the gene that is passed on from the parent inhibits the production of pheomelanin which produces orange/yellow colouration. However, it does allow the production of eumelanin which produces the dark stripes and results in the eyes being blue instead of red like an albino tiger. To pass on the white trait, both parents must carry the recessive gene. This means that despite the gene being found in one in every 15,000, not all of these tigers will display the white trait. This also means that both parents do not need to be white to produce white offspring. However, the only way to ensure that the offspring is white is to mate two white tigers together. 

Survival and Conservation

White tigers in captivity

Despite the fact that white tigers are incredibly rare, there is no conservation advantage of breeding them. The white colouration gives them a disadvantaged survival. These tigers are found in forest areas where they will no longer be able to camouflage with white fur. They have no natural predators but eat by stalking their prey and surprising it. With white fur they will find this much more difficult and as a solitary animal there are no other individuals to help them catch prey. White tigers are also much more valuable to hunters and are more likely to be shot or captured, especially when the are unable to hide. Tigers are already an endangered species, with a habitat that is constantly declining. No white tigers have been spotted in the wild in over 50 years, confirming their struggle to survive. The last one was supposedly shot in 1958. While zoos and exhibitors may say they are breeding these tigers for conservation, this simply isn't true as they can not be re-released into the wild due to their inability to survive. 

Inbreeding

Kenny - rescued white tiger
Lived to the age of 10

The American Zoological Association (AZA) has banned members from breeding white tigers due to the fact that they are bred for profit, not for conservation. Although this mutation was not caused by inbreeding, it is thought that severe inbreeding has been a result. White tigers are a huge attraction, allowing zoos and exhibitors to bring in more visitors and make more money. This has resulted in them inbreeding white tigers to ensure they produce white offspring which are more valuable. They have also been cross bred with Siberian tigers to produce a bigger cat, but once again not providing any conservation purpose. The first white tiger was captured in India in 1951 (only 7 years before the last white tiger was spotted). Some people believe that all white tigers are descendants from this tiger and are therefore all related/inbred. Although some have claimed there is no evidence to suggest white tigers are all inbred, many have been born with severe health issues such as kidney and spine problems, crossed eyes and cleft palettes. Some offspring may be born with the orange colouration but will still inherit these defects and these cubs will often be discarded as worthless. 

If these tigers are not bred in captivity it is likely that they will die out completely, as any that are produced naturally in the wild have such a struggle to survive against hunting, habitat loss and lack of camouflage. If these creatures can be kept in captivity without inbreeding, is it genetic diversity worth conserving?

Siberian / Amur Tiger

Panthera tigris altaica (endangered)

Amur (Siberian) tiger

Despite what is commonly thought, Siberian tigers are not the same as white tigers. Siberian tigers are also know as Amur tigers as they are mostly found in the Amur river valley in Russia. Amur tigers are mainly found in Eastern Russia, however, some can be found around the borders in China and North Korea. They live in boreal and temperate forest, consisting of coniferous trees such as birch. The temperature can drop as low as -45 degrees Celsius or -50 degrees Fahrenheit so they require a thicker, heavier coat than sub species such as Bengal and Indian. It is thought that there are only 450-550 left in the wild. They average as the largest cat on Earth (excluding the liger), males usually weigh up to 300kg while females are noticeably smaller at 180kg. They usually grow to around 3m in length. The largest Amur tiger was found in captivity at 3.9m in length. They have long legs and large paws which allows them to run up to 80km/ph. 

http://siberian-tigers.tumblr.com/page/2

Predation

They have no natural predators except for humans who account for 80% of Amur tiger deaths in the wild. They are killed for their pelts, for use in Chinese medicine or from fear. They rarely attack humans, however, this could be due to the fact that there are few left, so human contact is highly unlikely. They have a range of prey, from small animals such as rabbits and salmon, to large mammals such as moose, deer and wild boar. They have even been known to kill brown and black bears. They are hunters not scavengers but have been known to scavenge if the opportunity arises. They cover a larger area of land than other sub species as food is not as readily available in this habitat. They can eat up to 40kg (60lbs) of food in one sitting and are usually nocturnal.

Breeding
Like the majority of cat species, Amur tigers are solitary which means they prefer to live alone rather than in a group. Amur tigers will only be found together when  a mother is caring for her young or during mating season. They begin mating usually around 4 years old. Pregnancy will last about 103 days until the mother gives birth to a litter of 2-6 cubs. Cubs are born blind and can not hunt until they are 18 months old. They remain with the mother until they are 2-3 years of age. In the wild Amur tigers will live for 10-15 years which is about the average life span of most big cats. 


Siberian Tiger Youtube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq1eUtdpefs&t=17s