YEAR OF TIGER - SAVE TIGERS

Tigers are on the verge of extinction. According to WWF, Tigers are amongst the ten most endangered species in the world. Only 3500 or less tigers have been left! Over the last century more than 95% of the Tiger population has been wiped out & three sub-species are already extinct.

Out of total tiger population, India bears 1411 tigers according to latest records. The Tiger as the National Animal of India symbolizes the power, strength, elegance, alertness, intelligence and endurance of the nation. We Indians are lucky that India bears half of the population of tigers in the world with 23 tiger reserves in 17 states.. But the harsh reality is that India has far fewer tigers living in the wild than had been thought. In May 2007, the Wildlife Institute of India census showed tiger numbers falling in some states by two-thirds in five years. It found the largest decline in the tiger population to be in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, where the number of “big cats” (as they are otherwise called) has gone down from 710 to 255 in the past seven years.

Tigers are poached for their body parts - skins are prized for fashion and tiger bones are used for oriental medicines.Tiger skin trade is a large scale market in China and Tibet whose main provider is India. Investigations reveal that if immediate action is not taken to save the tiger, it could soon become extinct in India. Tiger skin and other body parts sell for thousands of dollars.Tiger pelts can fetch up to $12,500 in China.

Every participant in a tug-of-war is seen wearing tiger skins.A tent made up of 108 tiger skins.

 

TIGER SKIN IN A BOWL

Traditional Medicine practitioners use nearly every part of Tigers, from their whiskers to their eyes, claws, pelts, flesh and bones. Their bones are ground into a powder that is used to manufacture "Tiger Bone Wine," of supposed medicinal value and elixirs from ground Tiger bones are used to treat rheumatism, convulsions, scabies, boils, dysentery, ulcers, typhoid and malaria (Ward and Ward 1993). The trade continues because of the ingrained and widespread beliefs by the Chinese and many other Asians to be a part of traditions and customs. In Thailand, special farms were developed where Cubs are removed from the mother at birth so that she will immediately mate again and reproduce more. Cages were constructed and everything was purely for business purpose. Hopefully, this practice has been banned.

 

THIS PICTURE IS TO LET U REALIZE HOW CRUELY ANIMALS ARE BEING USED

An investigator with the Wildlife Protection Society of India, Nitin Desai says criminal groups use central Indian nomadic tribes, who have extensive knowledge of the tiger habitat, to poach the animal.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up a task force after reports that the entire tiger population of Sariska reserve in Rajasthan had been wiped out by poachers.

Wildlife activist Valmik Thapar accuses India's wildlife protection agencies of apathy. "Forest officials are underpaid, understaffed, and ill-equipped to protect tigers from often heavily armed poachers," he says.
The data as presented in TIMES OF INDIA is as follows:-
http://www.saveourtigers.com/pdf/66%20tigers%20dead%20in%208%20months.pdf



On 14th February, according to Chinese calendar, their new year will start and this year would be their “YEAR OF TIGERS”. Thus their own traditional approach can definitely help this year to create widespread awareness to save tigers. As half of tigers are in india and india’s tiger trade is mainly related to china, the awareness needs to be developed to save the tigers rather than using their body parts for their own traditional purpose.

Now the question is how we, the normal people, help to the save tigers. Various organization have taken the matter onto their hands to make the SAVE TIGER campaign a big impact, provide a better platform and raise more and more hands either to serve or help provide the aid or make the awareness widespread and reach upto the masses which are involved in such type of activities. Remember, ignorance and helplessness only can lead to the inhuman activities. By making people realize what wrong they are doing and what impact it can have or by helping them and showing the right path of leading the life can always help. Try helping in the best way you possibly can… here are some good links if you want to help:-
http://save-tiger.blogspot.com/
/http://www.saveourtigers.com/
http://www.tigersincrisis.com/
http://projecttiger.nic.in/
http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/tigers/year-of-tiger.html