Consuming the tigers to extinction
The exploitation of tigers for their body parts.
The Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris) and in general all six species of tigers have been highly endangered for many years. Currently only 6 sub-species survive: The Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris) living in Bangladesh, Burma, Bhutan, India and Nepal in particular and is the largest subspecies. The Indochinese tiger ((P.t. Corbetti) residing in Burma, Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The Malayan Tiger (P.t. Jacksoni) lives east of the Malay Peninsula. The Sumatran tiger (P.t. sumatrae) which lives on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, the Amur tiger (P.t. altaica) inhabits in northern China in the far east of Siberiaand the South China tiger (P.t.amoyensis) which is the most threatened, with only a nearly 50 living specimens that have been breed in zoos.
Three tiger sub-species are already extincted: The Bali tiger (P.t. Balica) in Indonesia, Java tiger (P.t. Sondaica) also from Indonesia and the Caspian tiger (P.t. Virgata) which lived in these countries: Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Russia and Turkey.
One century ago it was estimated that 100,000 tigers roamed on this planet. Fifteen years ago it was estimated that there were 4,500 wild specimens, but since that time these statistics are considered very high, as in recent years it is estimated that there are fewer than 2,500 tigers in the wild in the entire world.
The destruction of their habitat, the hunt of these animals which is fueled by vanity, arrogance and the economic benefit that brings to the tiger parts sellers, and the ignorance of the people that brutally murders these animals that are just trying to survive, these are the reasons that are rapidly decimating the tiger from this planet.
In captivity it is considered that there are about 20,000 tigers, but it is just an estimate.
Captivity means circuses, zoos, shows and the extremely horrific tiger farms in Asia, but especially in China where most of the adult tigers slowly are emaciated to their death.
The greatest threat to tigers is and has always been the human beings.
The humans have always seen the tiger fur as valuable luxury beauty item, which demonstrates a high social rank, so from ancient times they have been hunting them to decorate rooms, mansions of the rich, to make expensive fur coats, etc.
Humans have been destroying the tiger habitat to create plantations and fields that are used to feed their livestock. The tiger territories have been greatly reduced or have disappeared, due to the increasing human expansion and population explosion in urban and rural areas, destroying forests which are important for the basic survival of these beautiful animals.
Tigers end up with no territory to hunt and hunger drives them to seek prey in human communities where there are goats and chickens, creating the human-tiger conflict, which always ends in the brutal killing of these beautiful animals.
But the greatest threats to tigers are its body parts.
The tiger hunts are prohibited and it is considered a crime, but in the tiger farms in China when the tigers reach adulthood, they are literally are starved to death. When the tiger dies the bones are used in the creation of tiger wine which reaches enormous prices in the black market. Other body parts are also used in Asian traditional medicine, but especially in China.
The irony is that China is a member of the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) that bans the international commercial trade in tiger parts and its derivatives.
These bottles of tiger bone wine sell for £65-£500 each. In China it is considered that around 5,000 tigers are kept in captivity to produce this lucrative and cruel drink. Supposedly it cures muscle ache, arthritis, rheumatism and even scare evil spirits!.
The tiger is a majestic animal, beautiful, brave and agile, so since ancient times "magical" properties have been given to them, without any of these properties been neither proven by modern medicine nor scientific. These are just beliefs passed from generation to generation, based on folklore and myths of the amazing tiger power are still believed by the poor ignorant people and rich people in the same way. This mythology and superstition of the great tiger power and its body parts, is what is killing the tigers and is leading them to the brink of extinction.
What CATCA-ACWF is doing to help the tigers?
Since 1988 our President and Founder has been educating the general public and supporting international campaigns and events to save the tigers. Since 2007 she has been lobbying at the highest level of animal conservation (CITES) to protect and enforce the laws in all the tiger range countries. She has also been at the tiger table of the Species Survival Network during CITES providing information to the multinational delegates about the tigers plea.
