Panthera

organisms, but it is also home to some of the most threatened species and tropical forests (Bateman 2010). The lush tropical habitats that once covered the area are rapidly decreasing and so are the organisms that thrive in that environment. The Panthera tigris sumatrae, more commonly known as the Sumatran Tiger, is the smallest surviving tiger subspecies left in the world (WWF 2017). Found only on the Indonesian Island of Sumatra, fewer than 400 of these large carnivores exist today (WWF 2017).…

Introduction The policies and laws surrounding trophy hunting remain complex, with many scientists, governments and conservationists unable to agree on best preservation and conservation practices and how they interplay with wildlife management plans such as trophy hunting. Management is especially complicated as wildlife often roam large distances and frequently move in and out of parks and protected areas making regulations in, between, and across legal and political boundaries especially…

Presence of carnivores helps to maintain the integrity of ecosystems throughout the world (Soulè and Terborgh, 1999). Many carnivores are capable of altering trophic structure and biodiversity through a process known as top-down control (Elmhagen and Rushton, 2007). Through this, carnivores are able to prevent the overabundance of herbivores. If uncontrolled, an explosion in herbivore population density would increase the grazing pressure that would ultimately threat the survival of the…

The Trophy Hunting Dilemma A small herd of wild African Elephants wander upon a shallow lagoon no deeper than three feet and smaller in circumference than a standard classroom. A towering female submerges the end of it’s trunk in the water and from beneath its legs, a calf stumbles into the water. The baby elephant throws it’s trunk back flinging water onto the rest of the herd. The other members of the herd let out a high pitched trumpeting sound and wade into the shallow water. Scenes like…

Abstract This paper looks at the behavior of lions in zoos. Zoos are critical in the education and conservation for animals. They provide people with many opportunities and encounters with animals that are otherwise nearly impossible. Having these opportunities lead me to believe that humans effect the way that animals behave in zoos. It is not natural that these animals interact with humans on a regular basis. Such drastic changes in their environment led me to think that some change in…