King of the Jungle? How much longer will they reign?

Tigers are the world’s largest cats; a powerful and solitary predator at the top of the food chain that once roamed widely throughout Asia. For over a million years “The King of the Jungle” ruled over territories stretching from eastern Turkey to Far East Russia, with its home extending north to Siberia and south to Bali. At the beginning of the last century, there was an estimated 100,000 tigers in the wild. Today, a few as 3,200 remain. Scientists fear that in about 12 years there may be no tigers at all.


                              Bali Tiger

  

By the end of the last century, three of the nine tiger subspecies have been extinct, the Bali, Javan, and Caspian. Tragically, the remaining six, risk the same fate because of illegal wild life trade, poaching, loss of habitat, and conflict with people. Poaching is one of the bigger threats to the tiger’s survival where illegally, the tigers are hunted and killed for their fur, bones, and body parts then sold on the black market.

          (Poaching)

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has continuously supported the endangered tigers, especially this year, 2010, “The Year of the Tiger”.  WWF’s Tx2 campaign aims to put in place the necessary conditions to double the wild tiger population by the next Year of the Tiger in 2022. Tx2 seeks both immediate emergency measures to save the tiger,  as well as a long-term foundation for securing the future of this beautiful animal. Throughout this year and for the remainder of the year, WWF had/is focussing their efforts on:

·         Securing emergency funds- to halt poaching in the most critical tiger landscapes

·         Securing political will and action to double wild tiger numbers

·         Protecting tiger habitat at an unprecedented scale, including clamping down hard on the illegal trade

·         Engaging local communities and other relevant stakeholders as conservation stewards by providing economic and livelihood incentive.

Aside from Tx2 campaign, WWF has created a campaign called “ROAAAR”. In the next few months the Heads of Government from the 13 countries that still have wild Tigers in their forests will come together for an historic meeting(around February 2011): The Tiger Summit. It is at this meeting where possibly the best chance to secure the tiger's long-term survival will be decided. To encourage these powerful people to make the right decisions and keep to their stated goal of doubling the number of wild tigers by 2022, WWF asks us to ROAAAR, in any way we can; by submitting a video, picture, or even a simple text message. Everyone who submits a Roar will be counted in a petition that will be taken to the Heads of Government when they meet.

 
 



                 Javan Tiger

Why save the tigers? How important can they be? This animal may be feared, but it is also revered and admired by people all over the world at the same time. By saving this species we are essentially saving many other endangered species that roam in the same forests by protecting their habitats. With just one tiger, we protect around 100sq km of forest. As a large predator, the tiger plays a key role in maintaining healthy ecosystems. If the tiger becomes extinct we are only disrupting the food chain and reducing diversity. Diversity is the reason why our earth is unique, why destroy it?

                   Caspian Tiger

References

"Tiger Extinction." Essortment Articles: Free Online Articles on Health, Science, Education & More.. Web. 06 Oct. 2010. <http://www.essortment.com/all/tigerextinction_rxcy.htm>.

THE TIGER FOUNDATION. Web. 05 Oct. 2010. <http://www.tigers.ca/home/index.php>.

"WWF - Tiger - Overview." World Wildlife Fund - Wildlife Conservation, Endangered Species Conservation. Web. 06 Oct. 2010. <http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/tigers/index.html>.

"WWF - What WWF Is Doing for Tigers." WWF - WWF. Web. 06 Oct. 2010. <http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/tigers/tiger_initiative/>.

"WWF - Why Should We save Tigers?" WWF - WWF. Web. 06 Oct. 2010. <http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/tigers/tiger_initiative/whysavetiger/>.

PHOTOS

http://travel.bf-1.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/bali-tiger.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5AlOQVxSN54ZchQX4EKaxHwZ9b4mRCMb_CQaWsheL5ToLbwTZGgtMwkVBrhtTKcZXhCmBEwfmm0BQRls9TqbjPPjWh4daEDCzt35R4MZDCHjLZHmQ77VerqnlLGWnVGQkp0tJnpl7I334/s320/3506.jpg  http://www.juesatta.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/tiger01.jpg
http://www.solarnavigator.net/animal_kingdom/animal_images/Tiger_tigris_sumatran_subspecies_panthera.jpg                                                                                        

 I commented on:

http://bioblogstuff.blogspot.com/2010/09/sea-shepherd-conservation-society_26.html#comment-form

 http://natashasbioblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/worlds-fastest-cats-are-disappearing.html?showComment=1286378408875_AIe9_BEe9TEUonhEPuuFiEMxbf_FeaZXK