Is it too late for the tiger? **Warning some images might be graphic**

Normally I do not jump on the sensationalist bandwagon. But in this case I think it is time for some sensationalism. Our tigers are nearly gone from the wild. Tigers are in serious danger of vanishing from their natural habitat, leaving more in captivity in the U.S. than anywhere in the wild.

www.cnn.com...

I did not know three subspecies had already been ruled extinct and one other has not been seen in 25 years.

It is likely that the tiger’s biggest enemy is the desire its body has to people. Their hides as well as body parts being used in medicine that may or may not work.

www.tigersincrisis.com...


I could use this to bash a culture, but that is not going to happen. I think for the most part the world is to blame.
factsanddetails.com...


I believe governments worldwide could ban together and provide better education and conservation for the tiger. If the world governments did this the tiger could still be saved. It might well be too late for the majestic tiger though. We could be seeing the last remaining tigers in the wild as we speak.
www.environmentalgraffiti.com...

They are hunted beyond control not for food, but for less moral and uneducated reasons. I fear that by the time my son, now three, is my age the only chance of seeing a tiger would be in a zoo or a picture.

This is some of the beauty we have now, still roaming the wild.









This is what is happening now.

www.chinadialogue.net...













What can be done to help stop the loss of the tiger? Is this the tiger our children will know? One that is dead, one that is extinct.

Raist


[edit on 2/10/10 by Raist]

[edit on 2/10/10 by Raist]

[edit on 2/10/10 by Raist]

[edit on 2/10/10 by Raist]

Capture as many of them as possible, and pair every female with one male(but not force them.) Doesn't seem like the mot humane solution, but really, can't do anything else unless we abandon meat ourselves, or until those countries improved economically. Poor people aren't going to have any conscience for the environment.

We could design a virus that only kills Asians. That would save the Tiger.

reply to post by Grumble


Not even close, try the source of demand. Every thing from fertility enhancers to decorational displays of fur, or private collectors with their personal zoos.

Your statement is like saying the same about Africans because of the illegal diamond trade there. Again, source of the demand...sickening if you think about it. Consumerism, commercialism and capitalism.

Perhaps a virus, already has been created, to get rid of the 3Cs...
Which one are you, consumer perhaps.



Oh well, you all enjoy your discussion, just remember to keep it civil. General decorum and topic. This thread is not about any thing other than endangered tigers, not genocide of asians.

It is sad how people in this world behave towards its other occupants but killing Asians isn't exactly an answer Grumble.

That's sad to hear. Personally they have been my favorite animal since I was little. A change is to be made, obviously. I just don't know what, this isn't my speciality.. hate just watching it go and come by.

Disturbing post.....but necessary. Thank you.

I've often thought that the reason we kill such majestic creatures is because we envy their beauty and grace....perhaps we are trying to gain that for ourselves somehow by consuming products made from them...

I don't know how to combat the greed and apathy in the world.

[edit on 10-2-2010 by smyleegrl]

Originally posted by np6888
Capture as many of them as possible, and pair every female with one male(but not force them.) Doesn't seem like the mot humane solution, but really, can't do anything else unless we abandon meat ourselves, or until those countries improved economically. Poor people aren't going to have any conscience for the environment.

It is not their meat that most are after. Much of the time the meat is left to rot while their paws, claws, teeth, and other parts are used in folklore medicine. Not to mention the skins are purely status symbols for many.

If it were only a meat thing it would still bother me, but not in the same way. I would be a little more forgiving if it were only a meat issue.

Raist

Originally posted by Grumble
We could design a virus that only kills Asians. That would save the Tiger.

I cannot believe you are even halfway serious. Even as a joke this is lacking in class.

Raist

Thank you so much for this thread and bringing attention to such an important matter. Starred and flagged.

reply to post by smyleegrl


The tiger has been seen as a symbol of power for quite some time. I believe you are onto something when you say we are trying to inherit some of their qualities by consuming parts of them. I think I actually seen something like that on a documentary years ago about using animal parts for things.

Basically like using rhino horn like Viagra.
www.natural-aphrodisiacs.com...

a rhino's horn is a very potent and phallic symbol. It is hard, erect and comes from a powerful beast with skin like armor and testicles the size of baseballs.

Raist

Yeah, dark humor is a bitch, ain't it?

So you smart guys should be proposing non-racist solutions. I know I would never support the slaughter of an endangered animal, not for any price, not even to save my own life. But Asian cultures are full of demand for pieces of living things because of ridiculous superstitions. How are you going to change that? How are you going to get the "modern" Japanese to stop whaling, for example?

The ultimate answer will be tyrannical one world dictatorship, and the people of Earth deserve the cruelty they will inflict on themselves.

reply to post by Grumble


No the ultimate cure for such things is education.

It has nothing to do with dictatorship at all. But some education in medicine, other natural cures, conservation, and the like would bring an end to such a demand.

Sadly though it might be too late for that kind of thing to help. Our only option might be to remove every last one of them from the wild in order to save them. That is certainly a last ditch effort but if we can keep them just wild enough after some time we might be able to release them again.

Raist

It's not too late to save them, as they still have a viable genetic pool. However, it may be impossible to stop the illegal poaching of these beautiful animals.

From this article it seems the tiger might be too far gone.
www.newsweek.com...

When I started in '93 or so in Indochina—doing tiger surveys throughout Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam-tigers were in desperate shape. Desperate. I can't pinpoint the year. What we know is that by the turn of the 20th century—about 1900 or so—there were thought to be as many as 100,000 tigers still roaming throughout the clear range. When the world woke up to the tiger crisis—because nobody was even paying attention or questioning it—in the early to mid-1990s, we were dealing with estimates (which I thought were overestimates at the time) of 5,000 to 7,000 left throughout their entire range. Now we know it's probably half that, at most. People like myself and Ullas Karanth and some old-time cat biologists who were working within tiger ranges knew that tigers had been on a steady decline—continuously—for our entire careers.

Now back to the original article in the OP.

The number of tigers in the wild has dwindled to 3,200 -- less than the number held in captivity in the United States alone, the campaigners said.

In less than a decade the numbers might have dropped by half. Sure these numbers may not be entirely accurate, but if they are even close we have huge problems. Even more so the tiger has greater problems.

Really it seems these numbers might have been brought to us far too late.

Three tiger subspecies are considered to have become extinct in the past 60 years.

The Caspian tiger, Panthera tigris virgata, once ranged in Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Mongolia, and the Central Asiatic area of Russia and probably went extinct in the 1950s.

The Javan tiger, Panthera tigris sondaica, formerly ranged on the Indonesian island of Java and was last seen in 1972.

The Bali tiger, Panthera tigris balica, once lived on Bali, where the last tiger was believed to have been killed in 1947.

greenfield.fortunecity.com...

I honestly think I feel sick now. This is very disturbing when you think about the fact that tigers have more than one subspecies. When you divide the numbers up into each of those you see just how tragic this really is.

Bengal tiger: Less than 2,000
Indochinese tiger: 750-1,300
Siberian tiger: Around 450
Sumatran tiger: 400-500
Malayan tiger: 600-800
South Chinese tiger: Extinct in the wild
Caspian tiger: Extinct
Javan tiger: Extinct
Bali tiger: Extinct

www.defenders.org...#

Looking at the numbers in this fashion is shocking. Again it makes me feel sick that this is what is left of a very majestic creature. The tiger, a creature that is a symbol of power, grace and majesty, stealth and camouflage, nearly gone.


Raist

reply to post by Aggie Man


I hope you are right. But if something does not change within the next 5 years, I think it will certainly be too late. By then there may be no turning back for the tiger.

At this point though with the illegal hunting taking place deep inside I think the tiger will be nothing more than dust in the wind by the time 2020 gets here. 10 years does not seem that long but looking at how the numbers have declined one can see a trend that is moving rapidly in the decline.

Raist

reply to post by Grumble


How about a virus that kills every Westerner who drives? The Japanese is at least trying hard to develop the hydro-electric car. As far as the people who hunt whales, negotiations and compromises are always better than racist suggestions.

As humans we are the worst plague, virus,disease,and natural disaster to ever coexist with any other species on this planet.
Whatever happens to us, we surely deserve it.
Tigers as endangered is nothing new.
This is the Chinese Year of the Tiger..2010, and Exactly 12 years ago my son was born and I named him Tyger..no not after the golf idiot, but so that there would always be a Tiger in the world when the wild ones were gone.

reply to post by AccessDenied


I am not sure I fully agree with the idea of people being a plague or even a virus as I have seen others say, but I will say many have done a lot to harm the planet and those on it.

I believe for the most part a majority of people want to do good and do not do a lot to bring about death to the planet. But there are those who either are out to harm the planet knowingly, those who let their greed to the destruction, and those who inadvertently bring harm.

I think if we could start education and rehabilitation conservation now we could save the tiger in its natural habitat. If we do not do something now though in a decade it might be too late.

Raist

title warns about some "graphic images"...mkay and the same very people would be ok with it (for the most part) if the images were of cows and pigs.

it`s like that commercial(dont know if it still runs on TV) where they seriously say something along the lines of "if you dont help this cute little horsie than it`s going to be sold to Mexico for its meat" all the while showing all those images of animals being abused. now i am against animal abuse, but i guess people(some) are so damned stupid that really think that a horse is better than a cow whose meat you eat away at McDonalds. i mean it`s not even double standard and hypocrisy at this point. it`s plain stupidity.