Another big cat is under great threat. This big cat was once found in the wide range of South East Asia which is now scattered to the limited areas of China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. The vigorous and majestic Corbett tiger was once the symbol of monstrosity and horror, but now is itself seeking its survival. It is feared that this big cat has become extinct in China because in 2009 the last known wild Indochinese tiger was killed and eaten by the native villagers. Corbett tiger is usually known as the Indochinese tiger which has now the estimated population of less than 1,000 individuals in the world

The Indochinese Tiger or Corbett Tiger ( Image: patmanzzz-against SOPA/PIPA )

The Indochinese tiger is biologically known as Panthera tigris corbetti and lives in secluded forests in hilly to mountainous terrain, the majority of which lies along the borders between countries. Human poaching, habitat destruction, deforestation and hunting for oriental medication have made their current status critically endangered. The locals kill the Indochinese tiger for its exotic orange colored striped fur and its bones that are used in making the traditional Chinese medicines.

The rare Indochinese tigress in the jungle. Image © Arjun Juneja

The majestic Indochinese tiger is smaller in sizes as compare to the Bengal tiger with a darker skin color. Males weigh from 150–190 kg (330–420 lb) while females are smaller at 110–140 kg (240–310 lb). The Indochinese tiger usually love to hunt larger mammals like wild boars, deer and cattle. Because of the dangerous shrinking of the forests, the scarcity of food is another alarming threat to the lives of the Indochinese tiger. The gestation period in the female Indochinese tiger is of 3 to 4 months and the female may give birth up to 4-5 cubs in the ideal circumstances. The newborn babies are fed by the mother for about two months and then they start eating meat. The cubs depend on their mother for the first 18 months and then they start hunting on their own.

An Indochinese cub in a zoo ( Image : Josh More )

The international organizations like WWF and IUCN are trying to find new areas having low human interference as the Indochinese tiger’s habitats for their protection and conservation. The survey reporting and research work about this rare big cat is a tough ask because of access to the areas where Indochinese tigers live is often restricted. According to the WWF officials, the best hope of the survival of this subspecies is in the Dawna Tennaserim landscape on the Thailand-Myanmar border where perhaps 250 tigers remain. WWF considers the forests of the Lower Mekong a restoration landscape with the possibility of reintroducing tigers as the habitat and prey base are there. Southern Laos and Central Vietnam also have potential for recovery of wild tiger populations.

The majestic Indochinese tiger is being eliminated by the poachers on the highest rate than any other tiger sub-specie of the lovely planet.  The need of the day is to stop their hunting and the illegal trade of the Indochinese tiger. All governments of their respective habitats must improve the living conditions of the Indochinese tiger and the local community should also co-operate with the authorities to safeguard this extraordinary carnivore specie.

It was a time when the shallow waters were crossed through weak and sluggish bridges that were mostly made of wood and stone. But now, with the passage of time the bridge building art has enormously evolved. Modern science and methadology have introduced new tehniques for constructing the bridges. The construction requires lot of creative designing, hard work and appropiate maintenance of the bridges through out their life.

There is a long list of the amazing bridges of the lovely planet; however, we’re trying to bring before you the most noteworthy of them in this series.

These are the images of some more amazing bridges of the world for your interest.

16- The Brooklyn Bridge in the United States

Brooklyn Bridge in the New York City - Image: Rob NYCity

The Brooklyn Bridge is a bridge in New York City and is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge started in 1869 and took 14 years to complete.The bridge is one of the most magnificent landmarks in New York.

17- The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge of Japan

Akashi Kaikyo Bridge of Japan - Image: T.Hatta

The Akashi Kaikyo Suspension Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the world which  is an example of  the greatest engineering feat. It took two million workers and ten years to construct the bridge in which  181,000 tonnes of steel and 1.4 million cubic metres of concrete was used.

18- The Chengyang Bridge of China

Chengyang Bridge in China

This bridge is also known as  Chengyang Wind-Rain Bridge which is a famous bridge in  Dong Minority Region in China. The bridge has a total length of 64.4 meters, and its corridor has a width of 3.4 meters. The net height above the river is about 10 meters.The bridge  serves as the link between two populous villages.

19- The Rialto Bridge or Ponte di Rialto

Rialto Bridge in Venice , Italy - Image: Eric Wester

The Rialto Bridge is one of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. It is the oldest bridge across the canal, and was the dividing line for the districts of San Marco and San Polo. The bridge has defied its critics to become one of the architectural icons of Venice.

20-  The Oresund Bridge in Denmark 

Oresund bridge of Denmark - Image: earlesd

The construction of the Øresund Bridge of Denmark began in 1995, and was finished 14 August 1999. The Øresund Bridge is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe, and connects two major metropolitan areas: those of the Danish capital city Copenhagen and the major Swedish city Malmo.

This was the forth episode of the most amazing bridges of the world. In the next episode we’ll present before you some other fantastic bridges of the world. Click the following to visit the first and second part of this series ;

In this episode, we’ll describe some more amazing bridges of the world. These bridges are so fabulous and astonishing in their designs that apart from providing the passage over the water, they have become the remarkable symbols of their particular areas. Such bridges are truly the masterpieces and the state of the art constructions designed and built by the engineers. The planning and the constructions of such bridges would have gone through many complications and hard work. Not only the scientific technology and resources are required to build such amazing brides, but they require the ultimate aesthetic approach and the precision.

These are the images of some more amazing bridges of the world for your interest.

6- The Historic Golden Gate Bridge

The historic Golden Gate Bridge in California - Stefan Bock's Image

This amazing and historic suspension bridge connects the San Francisco city to the Marin County in California, USA. The construction of this amazing bridge was completed in 1937 and this is a fascinating fabrication of the steel work.

7- The Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia

The Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia - Image: Yury Prokopenko

Because of the fantastic arch-based design, the Sydney Harbour Bridge is also known as “The Cothanger”. It is also the fifth longest spanning-arch bridge in the world, and it is the tallest steel arch bridge, measuring 134 metres (440 ft) from top to water level.

8- The Nanpu Bridge in Shanghai, China

The Nanpu Bridge of China - Allister Chiong's Image

The Nanpu bridge is one of the most renowned cable-stayed brdges in China having seven lanes for the trafic and croses over the Huangpu river. The bridge has a main span of 428 meters (1,388 ft), shorter than its sister bridge, Yangpu.

9- The Historic Ponte Vecchio of Italy

The historic Ponte Vecchio of Florence, italy - Valeriano Della Longa's Photo

Ponte Vecchio is a hstoric and Medieval stone arched bridge in Florence, Italy over the Arno river which is beleived to be firstly construted in the Roman era. The bridge consists of three segmental arches: the main arch has a span of 30 meters (98 ft) the two side arches each span 27 meters (88 ft).

10- The Tsing Ma Bridge of Hong Kong

The Tsing Ma Bridge of Hing Kong - Gp Teo's Image

This amazing bridge in Hong Kong is named after two islands; Tsing Yi and Ma Wan. The bridge has a main span of 1,377 metres (4,518 ft) and a height of 206 metres (676 ft). The span is the largest of all bridges in the world carrying rail traffic.

This was the second episode of the most amazing bridges of the world. In the next episode we’ll present before you some other fantastic bridges of the world. Click the following to visit the first part of this series ;

Amazing Bridges Of The World -1

Jammu & Kashmir is the most beautiful part in the South Asian region, which is full of widely varying people, rich culture and scenic geography. Administratively, these days, Jammu & Kashmir has a territorial dispute among three countries; Pakistan, China and India. Pakistan controls the northwest portion (Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir), India controls the central and southern portion (Jammu and Kashmir) and Ladakh, and China controls the northeastern portion (Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract). However, without going into this occupational controversy, the people of Kashmir are famous in the world for their traditions, customs and hospitality. The Kashmiri people usually practice Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism and speak Urdu, Kashmiri, Pahari, Hindi and Ladakhi languages.

A Kashmiri couple in Kashmiri costume ( Sudarshan P's Image )

This is not feasible to cover the whole Kashmiri culture and tradition in one article. In this article, we’ll try to highlight the dress culture of Jammu & Kashmir. The dominating religion of Jammu & Kashmir is Islam, so the Kashmiri Muslim community loves to dress up with “Pheran”. Pheran , the traditional dress of Jammu & Kashmir is a long loose shirt which hangs down below the knees along with a white turban tied on a skull cap, a close-fitting trousers and lace less shoes called Gurgabi.

Kashmiri girls wearing the traditional Pheran ( Image: Khurram Aziz Shaikh )

The Pheran for Kashmiri women is more stunning and graceful with the heavy embroidery and has broad sleeves. Pheran is considered a combination of Indian and Iranian clothing. The Hindu Kashmiri women also use Pheran as their dress with a little distinction. A Hindu woman’s Pheran touches her foot which is tied at the waist with folded material called lhungi. Their dress is fully embellished with brocade including the head-dress called Taranga. The men’s wear for the Kahmiri Hindus mainly includes Churidar Pajama and they use the beautiful skull caps without a shawl.

A Kashmiri bride on her wedding day ( Image : Avinash Anand )

For the Kashmiri Hindu woman or a Muslim woman, one thing is common i-e the charm for the ornaments. With the splendid ornaments, the women of Jammu & Kashmir love headgears, arm glistens, necklaces and earrings. The additional ornament for the Hindu women may be “Dhareejo” which is the typical mangal-sutra for them. As the women of Jammu and Kashmir are known the best for their beauty, the use of these type of jewellery adds more plus in their magical appearance.

A typical Kahmiri Shawl prepared from Pashmina wool (Mohsin Khawar Photography- Pakistan)

The traditional dress of Jammu & Kashmir also includes the delicate Cashmere wool products and Kashmiri Shawls. These Shawls are popular in the world for the elegant material and exotic embroidery applied on them. The most precious of them are the Shawls prepared with Pashmina Wool which is also combined with the rabbit fur. Pashmina wool is obtained from the native Ibex that lives on the high altitude on 14,000 ft. Similarly, the Shawls those are prepared in Ladakh with Shahtoosh wool are also very rare and considered very expensive. Shahtoosh wool comes from the Chiru antelope and nowadays this is enlisted as endangered. So there is a ban imposed by the authorities on the trade of Shahtoosh.

A beautiful Ladakhi girl in her traditional dress (Ladakh - Kashmir) Image: slider_ss

In Ladakh, the popular Ladakhi dress is Goncha which is normally an ample robe of a thick woolen cloth and which is supported with a brilliant belt tied around the waist. The loose trousers are used with Goncha and both the males and the females use this dress with a slight variation. As it is mentioned earlier, the most attractive feature is the colorful waist ( Kamar Bund ) and in the festive or ceremonial occasions the chromatic and showy robes are worn. The other appealing component of the dress of a Ladakhi woman is “Peark”. Peark is actually a headgear prepared with the coating of black lamb decorated with turquoise stones that appears a cobra’s hood and tapering to a thin tail reaching down the back. Some Ladakhi women also wear another robe known as “Kuntop” with  the additional attire, i-e actually a fascinating and colorful shawl and it is called as “Bok”.

A group of folk dancers from Ladakh in traditional costumes (Photo: brij khazanchi)

The traditional dress of Jammu & Kashmir is unique in the whole Indian Sub-Continent as it comes from various cultural backgrounds. In the modern times, although the use of the typical and classical Kashmiri dresses is lessened by the Kashmiri youth as they prefer the jeans and shirt, yet in the festivals and in the wedding ceremonies, the use of the traditional dress seems common.

A wonderful group of Kashmiri girls in traditional Pheran performing the Kashmiri folk dance ( Ramesh Lalwani's Image )

The Lovely Planet has enormous human population full of biological variations and races. These variations include traits such as skin color, eye color, hair color and texture, height and built, and cranial features varying clinally across the globe. In this series naming Women of the Lovely Planet, we hereby present before you a collection of the women portraits from different parts of the world. This is the part 1 of the series.

1- An Afghani Woman in Kabul – Afghanistan

An Afghani Woman: Image by Martien Van Asseldonk (Location : Kabul)

2- An Australian Lady in Leiden, Australia

An Australian Lady in Leiden, Australia ( Photo: Ricardo Liberato )

3- A Pretty Austrian Girl ( Austria )

A Pretty Austrian Girl ( Image by Noiseroute )

4- A Girl from Bangladesh

A Girl from Bangladesh ( Image by David Lazar )

5- A Glorious lady of Belarus

A Glorious lady of Belarus in Kchowa (Image: Jenya Korn )

6- A Kenyan Woman  ( Location:Kenya )

A Kenyan Woman (Image: Bioversity International) Location:Kenya

7- A women from Bosnia and Herzegovina

A women from Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Photo: Soroptimist International )

8- A Beautiful British Lady in London

A Beautiful British Lady in London (Photo by Damian De La Ferra)

9- A Danish Girl in Denmark

A Danish Girl in Denmark ( By: Bentborn )

10- The Maltese Girl ( Malta )

The Maltese Girl (Malta) By: FotoBlu

11- A cute Chilean Lady from Chile

A cute Chilean Lady ( Matt.JP's Image captured in La Habana )

12- A Chinese woman in Kunming, China

A Chinese woman in Kunming, China (Dave Stamboulis Image)

13- A Croatian woman in her traditional dress

A Croatian woman in her traditional dress ( Image: angusforbes )

14- A portrait of a Cuban lady – Cuba

A portrait of a Cuban lady (By: Romtomtom)

15- A beautiful girl of Cyprus

A beautiful girl of Cyprus ( Image: Istanbul mike )

16- An exotic image of a girl of Finland

An exotic image of a girl of Finland (Som Sol' flickr)

17- An awesome French girl ( France )

An awesome French girl (Photo: markfoster999)

18- A Lady from Germany

A Lady from Germany ( Photo: Eddy Van 3000 )

19- A girl in the traditional Guatemalan dress – Guatemala

A girl in the traditional Guatemalan dress ( Image by Rafael Magallanes Quintanar )

20- From Haa Valley in  Bhutan:  A Bhutanese Lady

From Haa Valley in Bhutan, A Bhutanese Lady (Photo:rpb1001)

21- A Hungarian girl in traditional dress – Hungary

A Hungarian girl in traditional dress ( Image by Tibor Aknay )

22- A gorgeous Indian girl in the traditional clothing – India

A gorgeous Indian girl ( Image by Joe Routon )

23- An Indonesian woman (Image by Alex Saurel)

An Indonesian woman (Image by Alex Saurel)

24- A woman of Iran

A woman of Iran (Image: Aria Mehr)

25- An Israeli Woman- Israel

An Israeli Woman ( Image :Marisa Ross )

26- A Jamaican woman ( Jamaica )

A Jamaican woman ( Jamaica ) Image: Kevin Williams

27- A Japanese Girl (Japan)

A Japanese Girl (Japan) - Image: Andrew Murray

28- A girl of Jordan

A girl of Jordan ( Image: Joao Lucio Azevedo Filho )

29- A Kazakh lady in her cultural dress (Kazakhstan)

A Kazakh lady in her cultural dress (Kazakhstan- Image by Jonathan Newell)

30- A Latvian woman in her traditional dress- Latvia

A Latvian woman in her traditional dress (Image: Gatis Staprens)

31- A Lebanese woman ( Lebanon )

A woman from Lebanon (IPS Inter Press Service's Image)

32- A girl from Liberia

A girl from Liberia ( Photo: Bob Richards )

33- A Libyan woman in her traditional dress- Ghadamis , Libya

A Libyan woman in her traditional dress- Ghadamis ( Image: Eric Lafforgue )

34- A Lithuanian girl in traditional dress- Lithuania

A Lithuanian girl in traditional dress (By: Londonietis)

35- A Malaysian lady in her traditional clothing – Malaysia

A Malaysian lady in her traditional clothing ( Image : Mohd Mustakhim Noor Rehan )

36- A Moroccon woman – Morocco

A Moroccon woman ( Image: Jack Wickes )

37- A Burmese girl – Myanmar

A Burmese girl - Myanmar ( Image: Diane Wolkstein )

38- A Namibian girl of Himba Tribe – NAMIBIA

A Namibian girl of HIMBA TRIBE - NAMIBIA ( Image by Eric Lafforgue )

39- A young Tonag girl, near Binga, Zimbabwe

A young Tonag girl, near Binga, Zimbabwe

40- An indigenous Nepalese girl from Nepal

An indigenous Nepalese girl ( Image by Tim Webster )