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Wild Tigers Going Extinct

by Jo Singer
Published December 1, 2010

"Tiger, tiger, burning bright in the forests of the night", the opening words of William Blake's famous poem, "The Tiger," kept ringing in my mind as I was reading an article on the Wildlife Conservation Society's site about tigers -- one of the most mysterious and beautiful species of big cats -- which I found quite disturbing.

The numbers of magnificent Tigers in the wild are hovering on the verge of extinction caused by poaching and habitat destruction.

It is estimated by scientists that today there are only 3,200 tigers living in the wild. What makes the tiger's future even more bleak is that only 1,000 of these cats are breeding females.

The crisis that the tiger population is facing -- which affects the entire continent of Asia and the Russian Far East - also threatens biological diversity. In order to recover the tiger population, the International Forum for Tiger Conservation met in St. Petersburg, Russia from November 21-24, during the Chinese Lunar Calendar Year of the Tiger. Participants hailed from the conservation organizations of 13 tiger range countries, including China and Russia, along with other advocates for tiger conservation. It was hosted by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the Government for the Russian Federation.

These highly concerned and passionate groups plan to double the population of tigers throughout the world, by the next Year of the Tiger in 2022.

Read more about their work by visiting tigersummit.ru.

The Wildlife Conservation Society is urging people to get involved.

You can help by contacting your senators and representatives asking them to co-sponsor S.Res 680/H.Res 1722.

Introduced in the Senate by Senator John F. Kerry and in the House by Representative Madeleine Z Bordallo, as a bipartisan resolution, it highlights the benefits of United States conservation efforts and the building of stronger diplomatic relations with tiger range countries.

Take a moment to watch the sobering video, Last Best Chance to Save the Wild Tiger? uploaded to YouTube by WorldBank.

See video

What concerns do you have about the extinction of tigers in the wild? Leave a comment and share.

Image Souce: Flickr user tambako

Author's profile photo
Jo Singer

Shortly after retiring as a social worker and psychotherapist, I discovered my "writer's voice"…

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Comments (5)

Iniki (Unverified)
Added 12-02-2010 08:40pm
Each animal has it's place in the world and if a major preditor is killed off it will greatly impact the environment for everyone both animal and human. Wake up world.
fourhorsegal
Added 12-02-2010 01:13pm
If indeed poaching is the major problem, there shold be stricter laws against it and it should be closely monitored. Harsher restrictions should be put into place and punishment should for such crimes need to be strictly inforced. If it is left the way it is, no senator or representative will be able to do anything about it.
Anonymous
Added 12-02-2010 12:06pm
Wow. Amazing that anyone would posit an "us vs. them" polemic in these terrible times against a species that has been so persecuted and for one that is killing this planet by overbreeding. At almost 7 BILLION, there are enough and then some humans on earth. Not so the tiger, which is a far more beautiful and IMO beloved species. Protection across the board for ALL felidae. Humans? For heaven's sake, PRACTICE BIRTH CONTROL.
Ruth (Unverified)
Added 12-02-2010 11:27am
The human race will eventually wipe itself out by its selfishness, greed and lust for more power and this planet will return to how it was before we came along. We are here as caretakers of all animals but doing a poor job of it. Animals were managed by Mother Nature and she was far better than us at the job. Elina some of us can justify saving tigers because we also help the people we can help too, we can help both people and animals you know, it isn't about one or the other.
Anonymous
Added 12-02-2010 10:17am
The population which you have mentioned is the population of the wild. It is not the population of the whole planet. The population of the tigers in the whole world is more than 30,000. According to the http://www.ligerworld.com about 20,000 tigers live in United States of America. 4000 alone in the state of Texas. The population claims of 3200 is just the population of the tigers in the wild. And even this population is manipulated by the researchers. Even is if the tigers will be extinct from the wild, they will possibly live in the animal sanctuaries and in zoos. This is the real truth. Why don't they tell this truth to the people as well? I just wonder what is wrong with these people. If one has to save the population of the tigers please save people in India...there people die from hunger. How can you justify saving a tiger while people die with the hunger in the same location. People will laugh about this tactic in India.
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