Tiger, India’s national animal seems as an epitome of pride, worship, fear, love and hatred. It evokes strong emotions, proving itself as a powerful icon for national heritage and culture. Though WWF – India was very firm in conserving them, it is very sad to say that only a few of them have been left untouched. Tigers were in surplus amounts in the Sunderbans, Western Ghats of Nilgiri, Terai Arc Landscapes (TAL), North Bank Landscapes (NBL), Kaziranga Karbi Anglong Landscape (KKL). However, poaching continued even when in 2003 WWF – India initiated a PROJECT TIGER.
To give a brief fact file of tigers I may include following points:
• Habitat & Distribution :
Tigers are widely distributed from Alpine Himalayas to rain forests of South Western Ghats (Rajasthan to northeast states)
• Description:
Male adults may range from 275 – 290 cm in length and female around 260 cm. However, their size and color vary according to geographic locations.
1. Territorial and solitary – territory may encompass ratio of 1 male to 2 to 7 female tigers. Single tiger’s territory may cover about 160 sq. Km
2. Feeds on deer, wild pig, boars and sometimes even on leopards and bears.
3. 3 of the 8 subspecies already extinct, which include Bali Tigers in 1940’s, Caspian Tigers in 1960’s and Javan in 1980’s.
4. On average can eat up to 60 pounds (27.2 Kg)
We have to face many conservation challenges in order to save them, because a day may arise when your kids will only see this epitome either in zoos or only in books. Deforestation is causing a major problem leading to habitat destruction and prey destruction. A tiger may survive well up to 20 years in zoo but it has long lifetime when it is dwelling in its habitat. Due to continuous poaching of deer and antelopes there has been a reduction in prey for hunting, causing a threat to overall food chain.
Tigers themselves have been a prey to poaching, hunting and illegal trade. Internationally a huge black market trades for tiger skin and rest all body parts. Tibetans wear tiger skin robes, wealthy collectors display their heads, exotic restaurants use their meat; their penis is said to be an aphrodisiac, and Chinese covet their bones for various types of health cures, including the tiger – bone wine, the “Chicken – soup” of Chinese meal. Experts say that tiger head is traded for about $ 10,000 or more.
It is very sad that in this money minded world the cost of the life is far poor. Tiger Farming – ever heard of that, if not then let me tell you all that these cruel zoo keepers trade captive tiger’s body parts and thus its not even known to anyone else as the system itself is corrupt enough to hide this, saying that tiger died of some disease. It is not only the case in zoos but also even the government based national wildlife sanctuaries, which are meant to save them!
Loss of habitat means that these creatures are forced to wander about in fields and other human territories leading to conflict with humans. It is obvious that they hunt the domestic animals for food because of the prey reduction. Thus in retaliation tigers are often killed by angry villagers. It is high time now that we realize the need to save tigers. Everything is totally interconnected and we need to fix all things before whole food chain breaks down.
As a responsible citizen of India, we can spread word about tigers and their importance in whole food chain. Apart from that be responsible tourist, as wilderness is to be experienced and not something that is to be disturbed. As the saying goes, “Don’t leave behind anything except footsteps and don’t take anything along except memories.” If in any case you feel laws are being broken then do inform your nearest police station about the act. Last but not the least reduce pressure on the natural resources; find ways to other renewable types of energies.
ALWAYS REMEMBER SAVING TIGER MAY COST YOU A MILLION DOLLARS TODAY BUT IF THEY ARE NOT SAVED THEN IT MAY COST YOU YOUR LIFE AS THE WHOLE FOOD CHAIN WILL BREAK DOWN.
HELP SAVE TIGERS.
No comments:
Post a Comment