It seems that one of the most loved animals in the world today is the tiger. These beautifully majestic cats however, may not be around for my grand children to admire. In the last 100 years their numbers have dropped drastically and if we do not take a stand and make a change they could very well go extinct in our lifetime. International Tiger Day was started in 2010 (the last year of the tiger) in order to take a stand and help fight for the change that will protect the few thousand tigers that remain in the wild.There are several reasons why the tigers populations have dropped so quickly. In some cultures it is believed that by ingesting a part of the tiger one will inherit the power and strength of the tiger. Tiger meat, skins, and other parts are also status symbols and therefore have a high demand on the black market. These fascinating predators are also harvested for sale in the underground pet trade. Another large contributing factor is deforestation. Tigers are suffering from major habitat loss not only from the development of the human population but also from mining of the natural resources in the area such as wood for paper products.
Even though the habitats that are being destroyed are more than 10,000 miles aways there are things you can do to help.
- Donate to an organization such as the World Wildlife Fund whose mission is to help educate and protect the tigers.
- Lobby locally for strict restrictions and requirements for those wishing to keep tigers in captivity and verify that those not in the wild are in reputable managed facilities (such as AZA Zoos and Aquariums, etc.).
- Being an educated shopper! When purchasing paper products make sure that the paper used is either recycled or harvested from sustainable sources.
For more information as to how you can protect the tigers check out the World Wildlife Fund's Save the Tigers site.
* All tiger images were taken at Busch Garden's Tampa. For more information on their tigers click the link below.
