Siberian tiger is also known as the Amur tiger and it is one of the largest species of tiger. The limited population of the Siberian tiger lives in the Russian Far East, especially in the Sikhote Alin mountain range of Russia. Siberian tiger or the Amur tiger is a mighty carnivore having an immense body structure even larger than the Bengal tiger and the African lion. An average adult male Siberian tiger weighs 176.4 kg (389 lb), the average asymptotic limit being 222.3 kg (490 lb); an adult tigress weighs 117.9 kg (260 lb).
Siberian Tiger: A furious big cat - Image: Anne Marie Kalus
According to a careful estimate, the approximate population of the wild Siberian tigers is around 330-360 individuals in the lovely planet. The illegal and brutal poaching is the biggest threat to the remaining Siberian tigers in the world so in this way the Siberian tiger is critically endangered species. The poachers kill this tremendous big cat in order to obtain its precious fur and the bones that are used in making the traditional Chinese medicines. The natural habitat of the Siberian tiger is being eliminated rapidly due to logging and thus their vast territory is suffering from the shortage of the tiger’s diet.
A Siberian tigress jumping with all her grace - Image : Tyler Westcott
This is not a good situation for Siberian tiger or the Amur tiger as they need at least 25 pounds of meat every day to survive. The deer, elk, monkeys and pigs are the primary diet of the Siberian tiger and on an average their one hunting attempt is successful out of their ten attempts. The Siberian tigers wander in their wide range, in fact hundreds of miles in search of prey; so the existence of vast forest landscapes is essential for their survival.
A Siberian tiger is busy in eating - Image: Tambako the Jaguar
Siberian tigers reach sexual maturity at four years of age. They mate at any time of the year. The female gives birth to her blind cubs in a sheltered den and are left alone when the female leaves to hunt for food.
Two cute Siberian tiger cubs are playing - Image: amcgdesigns Andrew
Cubs are divided equally between genders at birth. However, by adulthood there are usually two to four females for every male. Siberian tiger has lot of dignity in the hearts of the native people and they respect the Siberian tigers as ‘Old Man’ or ‘Grandfather’, while the Nanai people have named them as ‘Amba‘. Siberian tiger or the Amur tiger may live in the wild for as long as 15 years, but those in captivity have a smaller life span.
Women of the Lovely Planet have played the integral part in every sphere of the life of the humans around the globe. Specially in the modern era, they’ve come out strongly from the oppression and discrimination. They have proved themselves as the influential segment of their respective societies through their wisdom, dignity and grace. Today, the women are very actively performing many jobs that were beyond imagination in the past. This is the final part of the women of the lovely planet series and we’ve tried to pay tribute to them by giving them due honor and adoration.
These are the remaining images of the women from different countries of the world ;
131- A working woman from Qatar
A working woman from Qatar
132- A beautiful Romanian woman – Romania
A beautiful Romanian woman (Image: Hilde Bakering-Pilkington)
133- A pretty Russian woman from Moscow – Russia
A pretty Russian woman from Moscow (Image: Ricardo Nuno)
134- A smiling girl from Rwanda
A smiling girl from Rwanda (Image: Alex Motrenko)
135- A native girl of Saint Lucia
A native girl of Saint Lucia (Image: Alan Shipley)
136- A Samoan woman from Samoa
A Samoan woman from Samoa (Photo: Raphael Bick)
137- A graceful lady from San Marino
A graceful lady from San Marino (Image by Bootsman40)
138- A smiling woman of São Tomé and Príncipe
A smiling woman of São Tomé and Príncipe (Image: Andre Pipa)
139- A working woman from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
A working woman from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
140- A local girl of Swaziland
A local girl of Sawaziland - By: Alan Shipley
141- A Scottish woman in her traditional costume – Scotland
A Scottish woman in her traditional costume (Image: Martin)
142- A smiling girl from Senegal
A smiling girl from Senegal (Image : Boudewijn Olthof )
143- A woman from Seychelles
A woman from Seychelles (Image: maapu)
144- A native girl of Sierra Leone
A native girl of Sierra Leone (Image by Lindsay Stark)
145- A woman from Singapore wearing hat
A woman from Singapore wearing hat (Image: Sean Lowcay)
146- The Slovak lady from Slovakia
The Slovak lady from Slovakia
147- A woman from Solomon Island
A woman from Solomon Island (Image: Tom Perry)
148- A Somali girl in her traditional dress from Somalia
A Somali girl in traditional dress from Somalia_(Image courtesy: whotalking.com)
149- The typical South African woman – South Africa
The typical South African woman (Image by Stephen Bess)
150- An elegant lady from South Korea
An elegant lady from South Korea (Image: John Arbouw)
151- A woman of South Sudan
A woman of South Sudan (Image by Lindsay Stark)
152- An exotic image of a Spanish girl – Spain
An exotic image of a Spanish girl - Spain (Image: Latina Power)
153- A Serb woman from Serbia
A Serbian Woman ( Image: williewonker )
154- A smiling girl of Sri Lanka
A smiling girl of Sri Lanka (Image by Hana Hettiaratchi Sklenarova)
155- A Sudanese woman – Sudan
A Sudanese woman - Sudan (Image: Marwa Rustam)
156- An indigenous woman of Suriname
An indigenous woman of Suriname (Image: Henk Nijssen)
157- A Swedish girl – Sweden
A Swedish girl - Sweden (Image courtesy:juliana-photography)
158- A Swiss girl from Switzerland
A Swiss girl from Switzerland (Image courtesy: fastfoodforthought)
159- A Syrian woman in her colorful dress – Syria
A Syrian woman in her colorful dress (Image: Alan Shipley)
160- A girl from Taiwan
A girl from Taiwan (Photo: Yueh-Hua Lee)
161- A fabulous girl of Tajikistan
A fabulous girl of Tajikistan (Image by Marusia)
162- A Tanzanian woman from Tanzania
A TANZANIAN GIRL FROM TANZANIA (Image: Eric Lafforgue )
163- A girl of Thailand
A girl of Thailand ( Image : King Of Nor )
164- A local girl from Tonga
A local girl from Tonga ( A U Jay's Image )
165- A Tunisian woman in her traditional attire – Tunisia
A Tunisian woman in her traditional attire (Image by ramiszaki)
166- A beautiful Turkish girl from Turkey
A beautiful Turkish girl from Turkey (Image: Garry Knight)
167- A girl in her traditional costume from Turkmenistan
A girl in her traditional costume from Turkmenistan (Image: dolek flickr)
168- A dancing woman of Tuvalu
A dancing woman of Tuvalu ( A U Jay's Image )
169- A woman from Uganda
A woman from Uganda ( Image: gisela gerson lohman-braun )
170- A woman with all her grace from Ukraine
A woman with all her grace from Ukraine ( Image: dbmmedia )
171- A woman of Uruguay
A woman of Uruguay (Image by Jimmy-Baikovicius )
172- A graceful girl from the USA
A graceful girl from the USA (Image : Sandy Leidholdt)
173- An Uzbek girl from Uzbekistan
An Uzbek girl from Uzbekistan (Image by Alex)
174- A girl of Venezuela in her colorful costume
A girl of Venezuela in her colorful costume (Image : powerfocusfotografie)
175- A girl of Bulgaria
A girl of Bulgaria ( Photo by Vesela )
176- A Vietnamese girl – Vietnam
A Vietnamese girl - Vietnam (Image by Lon&Queta)
177- A girl from Yemen in a lovely dress
A girl from Yemen in a lovely dress (Image : Khalid Alkainaey)
178- A Woman from Yugoslavia in Croatian Costume
A Woman from Yugoslavia in Croatian Costume (Image: Dave G. Houser/Corbis)
The length of a river is determined after calculating the length between its source and its mouth. The rivers are the main source of fresh water, food, irrigation and hydrological benefits. Our lovely planet has magnificent rivers which normally fall ultimately into the oceans, seas or other rivers. Rivers are home of many aquatic species and they provide us with a tremendous source of food as fish.
There are almost 180 rivers of the lovely planet earth, which have the length of more than 1,000 K.m. Following are the images of the top 25 longest rivers of the lovely planet ;
1- River Nile of North East Africa ( 6,650 K.m )
River Nile at night ( Image: Mohamed Ahmed Kazzaz )
2- Amazon River of South America ( 6,400 K.m )
Amazon River with its rainforests ( Image : CIFOR )
3- Yangtze River of China ( 6,300 K.m)
Yangtze River of China ( Photographer: Stanley Zimny )
4- Mississippi River of the United States of America ( 6,200 K.m )
Mississippi River of US ( Image: By Creativity Corner )
5- Yenisei River of Russia ( 5,500 K.m )
Yenisei River of Russia ( atom57 image on flickr )
6- Yellow River (Huang He) of China ( 5,450 K.m )
Yellow River of China
7- Ob River of Russia ( 5,400 K.m )
Ob River in Russia ( Image by Alexei Ebel )
8- Parana River of Brazil ( 4,800 K.m )
Parana River of Brazil ( Luis Argerich's Image )
9- Congo River of Central Africa ( 4,700 K.m )
Congo River of Central Africa ( By Dan Balluff )
10- Amur River ( Russia, China & Mongolia - 4,450 K,m )
Amur River ( Russia, China , Mongolia ) By Martin Lopatka
11- Lena River ( Siberia – Russia – 4,400 K.m )
Lena River of Siberia, Russia ( By: Bolotbootur )
12- Mekong River of South East Asia ( 4,350 K.m )
Mekong River of South East Asia ( Jean-Marie Hullot's Image )
13- Mackenzie River of Canada ( 4,250 K.m )
Mackenzie River of Canada ( TonyG22 's Image )
14- Niger River of North Africa ( 4,200 K.m )
Niger River of North Africa ( Jamie Geysbeek's Image )
15- Murray River of Australia ( 3,670 K.m )
Murray River of Australia ( Image: By FreakyNami )
16- Tocantins River of Brazil ( 3, 650 K.m )
Tocantins River of Brazil ( By: Guilherme Figueiredo Quadros )
17- Volga River of Russia ( 3,640 K.m )
Volga River of Russia ( By: Viking River Cruises )
Kuressaare is a small city of the Saaremaa island of Estonia which is situated on the coast of Riga Gulf. This is a historic city which was emerged on the world map around twelfth century B.C. The most prominent place is obviously Kuressaare Castle which architecture of the medieval style and the main city has also flourished around the Kuressaare Castle.
Kuressaare Castle of Estonia is an important monument in whole of the Baltic region as this building has not undergone many amendments in its structure. In fact, the Kuressaare Castle has restrained itself to its original monumental beauty so its aesthetic significance is doubled.
Kuressaare Castle of Estonia
According to the historians, the reason to build the Kuressaare Castle was the war of the Estonians with the German feudals as a result of which the Saaremaa surrendered to the German crusaders. And this area was converted into a German Feudal state. But the complete domination of the Germans over the Estonians was not possible and there were frequent uprising and rebellions. So the construction of the Kuressaare Castle might would had been started at that time. However the first documented data about the Kuressaare castle originate only from 1380s.
The outside wall of the Kuressaare Castlel
The structure of the Kuressaare Castle was kept of convent type due to its function as it was the administrative centre of the district and to establish a proper shelter place for maximum people in case of a war. The Kuressaare Castle remained the residence for the bishops of Saare-Lääne Bishopric until the beginning of the Livonian War. Many cannon towers and higher walls were built during this time. In the middle of the sixteenth century the Kuressaare Castle was sold to the Danes who further modernized the defense system of the Kuressaare Castle. On the ground of Brömsebro peace treaty in 1645, Sweden took possession of Saaremaa and the Swedish improved the fortification system of the Kuressaare Castle. On September 15, 1710 the Swedish Army surrendered to the Russian army without any resistance. The Russian garrison left in the spring of 1711. However, the Kuressaare Castle remained no more important for Russia especially after the division of Poland when the Russians built Bomarsund castle in the vicinity of Stockholm. Finally, the Kuressaare Castle was purchased by the Knighthood of Saaremaa and the building was renovated.
However, the proper rehabilitation of the Kuressaare Castle was initiated in 1968 which lasted for almost one decade. The fortification walls, classical floors, windowpanes, cannon towers and the defense gallery were restored in their medieval patterns. Lots of renovation activities were also started in order to give the Kuressaare Castle of Estonia a pure look of a Middle Ages construction.
Dhole is an endangered specie of wild dogs which belongs to the family “Caniade”. Dhole, the Asiatic wild dog is a native of South East Asia and sometimes its classification becomes so confusing for the biologists to consider it whether in the family of foxes , wild dogs or wolves. Dhole is normally seen in red colored rusty fur but its color can be varied in different regions. Dhole’s natural habitats are the tropical forests of South East Asia but it is also found in few number in the meadows of Kashmir and Siberia. Now its population which is under extreme threat of extinction is scattered in Russia , India , Indonesia , Malaysia and China.
Dhole ,like other foxes and dogs is a carnivore. Usually Dhole’s diet include deer , hares and wild boars on availability. The adult dhole can obtain the approximate body length of 100 cm with a tail of almost 40 cm long. The average weight of dhole may be of 14 to 16 KG. The female dhole can give birth of 10-12 puppies and the breading season is considered from November to April. Normally dholes are seen in a pack of 8-10 in number and they search and hunt the prey together. But dholes can also hunt the smaller prey like hares individually.
Presently dhole is suffering from many dangers and it is under IUCN’s highly endangered list. Dhole, the Asiatic wild dog is mainly threatened by habitat destruction , human persecution and various diseases. The massive explosion of human population is resulting in the elimination of the natural landscapes where dholes can live.
