Friday, January 20, 2012

Adopt-A-Tiger







I have been seriously thinking of symbolically adopting. (I would like to get it on my birthday) But a gift is a better gift for you buy it for yourself.
Darling I have always been in love with tigers and fully aware of their endangerment. But I didn't get into detail until my science teacher ordered me to wright a two page essay of an endangered species. Well here are some of the things that triggered my awareness...

Tigers are one of the Earth's fastest disappearing species. At the beginning of this century there were about 100,000 wild tigers. Today there are less than 2,500! Originally, there were nine subspecies of tiger - 3 of which are now extinct. The 6 remaining tiger species: Amur (Siberian), Malayan, South China, Indo-chinese, Royal Bengal and Sumatran all have very shaky futures.
They are disappearing from the wild because of:
  • Habitat Loss - Humans are getting on tigers' turf.
  • Poaching - Humans are illegally hunting tigers.
  • Population Fragmentation - Humans are separating tiger groups.
Habitat Loss: Across all of Asia, places that were once covered with vast forests have been cleared for agriculture. As forest space diminishes, tigers can't find the prey they need to survive. As a result, tigers have begun to eat the livestock belonging to villagers who live near what's left of the forests. That's a problem for the livestock, it's also a problem for the tigers who sometimes get killed by villagers protecting their families and their livestock.
Poaching: Even though it's illegal to kill a tiger, people are still doing it. Why? Because every part of a dead tiger is valuable (more valuable than a live tiger in the eyes of poachers). A tiger's coat sells for as much as $20,000 on the black market. An intact tiger forearm can bring in hundreds of dollars per pound. Tiger penis soup sells for $320 a bowl in Taiwan. (Some people actually believe that tiger penis soup will increase their sexuality. Crazy? Absolutely!) Tiger bones, claws, eyes and even the whiskers command high prices for use in Eastern potions and elixirs. To fulfill the demand, the world's last tigers are being illegally trapped, poisoned and shot, then smuggled across international boundaries. Forestry and wildlife departments don't have the resources to fight against the poachers.
Population Fragmentation: Of any predator, tigers require the largest land area to survive and must compete with people for limited habitat and resources. As habitat is lost, people move farther into what was once the forest. Groups of tigers become separated from one another by villages and farms. This is called "population fragmentation." Consequently, tigers in one area can no longer mate with tigers in nearby areas. Instead, tigers breed repeatedly with the same small group of animals. Over time, this inbreeding weakens the gene pool, and tigers are born with birth defects and mutations.


What you can do to help the Endangered Tigers:

Upon hearing grim news about the environment or endangered species, some people shut down. They may think, "What can I - just one person - do?"
The answer is: plenty!
Just imagine if you and everyone in your neighborhood gave $1 to help save the habitat of Tigers, stop poaching and prevent extinction. What if it was $5? Now, multiply that by the population in your hometown. Truly there is strength in numbers to make a difference in saving this endangered species. Perhaps you are starting to get the picture!
Here's what you can do to help the endangered tigers:
  1. Write to your congressperson, the Secretary of the Interior and/or the President of the United States. Tell them that you are concerned about the tigers and ask them to continue national and international efforts to preserve the species.
  2. Pledge monetary donations to Adopt-A-Tiger at The Tiger Foundation, and/or become a member.
  3. Join the Global Tiger Patrol, a conservation agency which places a priority on protection of the tiger in the field, especially India.
  4. Look into the Save the Tiger Fund, a program of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
  5. Keep track of the latest endangered species news at the Environmental Investigation Agency.
  6. Spread the word to raise awareness of endangered Tigers and to spur additional conservation measures.
“The human race's prospects of survival were considerably better when we were defenseless against tigers than they are today when we have become defenseless against ourselves.” - Arnold J. Toynbee
 
Tigers of all colors and stripes 



Scouces:
http://stephhicks68.hubpages.com/hub/Endangered-Tigers
http://www.theinsite.org/earth/earth_es_tiger.html



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