Tiger "Assistance"

What’s really going on with tigers?

I’ve recently found more disturbing news on the tiger situation, and honestly I’m seething with anger simply reading about the new atrocities being thought of by capitalists claiming to be trying to “save the tigers.” I believe this is new but It could just be
my first time hearing about it, but apparently there has been talk of establishing tiger farms. Yes…tigers would be bred and raised and then “culled” for their body parts.

Culled – to collect, gather, or pluck.

Yes…tigers are now akin to chickens, pigs, and cows… I am completely outraged. Their plan is not to stop killing the tigers…but to build establishments where the sole purpose is to grow and kill tigers, saying that it will “reduce the pressure on wild tigers from poaching,” says Terry Anderson the executive director of Property and Environment Research Center, a non-governmental organization that looks at market based approaches to conservation. Basically, they want to make money…which is obviously the problem we’re having now.

I guess this is what capital conservationist call good living, I mean their going to be slaughtered anyway right?

This idea was brought up by, who else but, owners of China’s tiger breeding centers that have remained open as tourists attractions since China banned the trade of tiger parts in 1993.

Anderson states that,”there are ways to capitalize on the value of these animals and conserve them.” Why must these animals hold monetary value? Why can’t they be left alone? Why must humans always make money even if it come to butchering an innocent animal for its skin and genitalia alone? Breeding centers have been pushing for the legalization of tiger farms, but thank goodness there is some right minded man at the top of the ladder, Keshav Varma, who believes that this is honestly just not worth it. He states "too great a gamble for the world to take. We cannot know for sure if tiger farming will work. And if it does not work the downside risks are just too high-- irreversible harm." He’s right, we can’t be sure that just because we have a market for tigers that the poaching will stop. It could increase poaching and the theft of tigers from the wild to produce more product to be sold. My hat is off you sir. Please keep fighting the good fight. If you’d like to know more about the tiger trade and farming operations please visit http://www.endtigertrade.org . It has a plethora of information about this latest development and the illegal tiger trade in general.

What’s really being done to save the tigers?

Now that I’m beyond all the farfetched plans to supposedly save the tigers, let’s get to some actual initiative. Jackie Chan is the current spokes person for WildAid and the tigers, the equal to Yao Ming and his sharks.

Jackie Chan is a bit more talkative that Ming, and even though he’s a bit pressed on his English skills he gets his point across. The idea to use Jackie Chan seems like genius to me seeing as he is one of the most popular movie and kung fu icons to ever hit the big screen, and is known internationally. So although we know his English isn’t as pristine as it could be he’s a face we all know, love, and through much practice understand.

Just thought I’d add one more video, just because it’s so cool.

Other than these videos, and trust me there are plenty of videos to go around, there has already been a ban on illicit tiger products in China that I mentioned earlier that has dramatically reduced the pressure on wild tiger populations in the area. WildAid has also joined a coalition of 35 environmental, zoo and animal protection groups and created a four minute video to persuade China to continue to support the fight for tigers by not lifting the ban on the trade of tiger product. WildAid’s president Steve Trent believes that it is pertinent that this ban stay active stating,” If China lifts its ban, it will make it open season on tigers in the wild..... By keeping the ban, China will demonstrate its continued commitment and global leadership for tiger conservation." Even though there are still poachers preying on tigers in the wild, keeping this ban is a major step in being able to prosecute those caught breaking the law and trading illegal tiger products. The higher risk could be a great way to dissuade many poachers out of the business.

Poor Tigers

The Problem

Tigers are being hunted to extinction, and not enough people really seem to care. The range of all tigers is now only 7% of what it used to be, and in the past decade the area known to be occupied by tigers has dropped 41%. They’ve completely disappeared from Western Asia, and now roam in isolated pockets on the continent, leaving their range fragmented. The largest population of tiger, the Bengal tiger, is suspected to have dropped 60% in the past decade leaving less than 2000 Bengal tigers in total, and some subspecies of tiger have already gone extinct. As I’ve said they are forecasted to be completely extinct in 12 years give or take, meaning that there is a possibility some of us will have children that don’t even know what a tiger is, unless they include them in a history book titled “What we did to ruin the Planet” or we all have children next year. But then again, who would write that book? It would be longer than the bible and a new edition would have to be released once every six months, because we’re just that bad, so you all better get busy…really busy.

Why are the tigers being killed?

My answer…because humans are horrible creatures. The real answer is a combination of over hunting caused by the unlawful buying and selling of animal goods that is causing all of the tigers to be killed. Poachers are hunting tigers to extinction to skin them for rugs, and sell them to the highest bidder reaching to up around sixty five thousand dollars! Another rather odd commodity is male tigers being killed for poachers to harvest their; brace yourself….penises. Yes, that’s right, some demented people over in China feel that they should consume tiger penises in some form or another. Soups, energy bars, smoothies, all sorts of things. They believe that it’s a natural aphrodisiac, the last thing one of the most populated countries in the world needs. So while they make love on their new tiger skin rugs, the tigers population is steadily declining.

Tigers are also being threatened by the original vice we humans took to cope to with sharing a planet with other living, breathing things, to destruction of the world’s rainforests. As the forests grow smaller the tigers and their prey have less space to roam, less room to live. This destroys both their safety of shelter, and their food source at once, leaving them completely helpless, not a good position to one of the world’s top predators.

So who is to blame?

That’s a wonderful question! A little bit of everyone to be honest…you, me, your mothers, fathers, and the like. That of course is a part of my not being a part of the solution philosophy but honestly anyone that buys and sells illegal animal products is to blame. It is also possible many of us live in places that are responsible for the obliteration of the world’s rainforests, the US being an especially active participant in that practice.

Top Culprits

I’m sure this will be a surprise to the majority of you but behind China, the US is a huge advocate (not as a country of course but select individuals) of the illegal wildlife trade as stated by Peter Knights.

“Right now in stores and homes all across the United States, people are doing things, which are causing these places to be destroyed, animals to be destroyed. I mean the United States is probably the second largest importer of wildlife after China and in many cases we have things like turtle eggs for example. We do have things like rhino horn occasionally, and tiger pelts often find their way into the homes of those that can afford it.”

So our country is far from innocent, with our rich risking to import the illegal pelts to furnish the floors in front of their fireplaces. Between the US, buying for glamour, and Chinese buying for the prospect of gaining increased vitality the poachers have enough demand to supply for years to come. The only problem is there are not enough tigers left to endure this slaughter and in this case a will does not equal a way.