Tigers play an important role in maintaining the ecosystem. As they are on top levels of their kingdom, they are the true rulers or rajas of the Indian jungles. Here are some facts about tigers which you really find silly at once, but they are not so silly in reality.
Tigers depend on grass!
You must be thinking that this person must have gone crazy that he is making such statements. We all know that tigers are top carnivores then how come they depend on grass? But in nature each organism is dependent upon other organism. You must have heard of food chains. Billions of these food chains exist in nature and their each level is called trophic level. Plants such as grasses form the basis of most of food chains on land as they have ability to carry out photosynthesis. Herbivores like Axis deer or chital and sambhar that form the prey basis of tigers feed upon these grasses that are further preyed upon by tigers. So, isn’t that amazing, although not directly tigers are indirectly dependent on grasses.
Tigers bring rains!
“What a foolish quote?” you must say that. Tigers don’t dance to bring rains! But in reality tigers do help in bringing rains. The simple funda is that tigers protect forests by keeping the number of herbivores in check. Without tigers these herbivores will eat up all the forests. In general forests help in cloud formation by contributing lots of water vapour in the atmosphere that they release during the process of evapo-transpiration. Thus, the same concept is proved that in nature everything is interconnected.
Tigers nurture healthy deer population!
“This time you have totally got it wrong”, you must say that. How come tiger nurture its prey? In reality, tigers generally feed upon the diseased individuals as they are easy to catch. Healthy deer generally escape from tigers as they are very agile. Thus, by feeding upon diseased individuals, the tigers maintain healthy deer population.
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