FADING STRIPES

Fading stripes- two words that are a rather sad reminder of the fate of the Indian Tiger, whose very existence is looking bleak. Latest figures show that a there are just about 1,141 of these beautiful animals left in India- from 3,700 in 2002. Every other day, a small article crops up in the newspaper that a tiger has been found dead in a reserve. For those of you who have been living under a rock for about five years or so, tiger populations in wildlife reserves are declining and we might be close to witnessing another Sariska. What is really happening to these magnificent animals? I have tried to put together some things that you should know about the sad state of Panthera tigris tigris- our national animal, something we can sport on the logo of our Commonwealth Games but are inept in protecting and cherishing:

• The Royal Bengal Tiger is subspecies of tiger found in most parts of the Indian Subcontinent
• According to WWF there are about 2,100 Royal Bengal tigers in the wild today, including 1,411 in India, 450 in Bangladesh, 150 in Nepal, 100 in Bhutan, as well as a number in Burma and China.
• It is the second largest subspecies of tigers after the Siberian Tiger.
• Poaching is the major cause for decline in their numbers. Tiger hides, bones and other body parts sell for huge amounts of money in China and Tibet where it is used in traditional medicines. Tiger meat is also a delicacy albeit illegal and the Chinese government is blatantly turning a blind eye towards this injustice, This pressurizes us even more to protect the animal.
• Another major cause is habitat destruction- Humans moving ever closer and right into tiger territories. Every day, forests are being cleared for human development thus cutting into tiger habitats. This clears their natural prey sources and brings them into conflicts with humans - tigers hunting livestock as a substitute for their diminishing prey and enraged farmers either shooting them or deliberately poisoning carcasses.

I implore upon all our readers to take this issue seriously as we are on the verge of losing our national animal. There may be little you can do to help them sitting before your computer but that "little" can go a long away. For more information on how you can help, please visit:

http://www.savethetigerfund.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home1.

You can find more links on my previous post titled "ATTENTION NATURE LOVERS"

Yours sincerely

Shreyas

P.S: Hurry! the clock is ticking