Currently the Tiger (panthera tigris) is only on the "Endangered" list of Iucn. Looking at the history however, the tiger has been on the endangered list as far back as the 1980's when the Iucn Conservation monitoring centre first put it there. From the countries listed it is sad to read that once this animal used to roam widely across Asia, from Turkey to Russia. Today they are extinct in Afghanistan, Iran, Republic of Islamic, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Singapore, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It is also extremely potential that there are extinct in Fujian, Guangdon, Jiangzi, Jiangzi, Shaanzi and Zhejiang to name a few.
Since the early 1990's it has been feared that poaching would wipe out this majestic creature, for the use of their bones. Tiger bones are used in traditional Asian medicine and have been determined to hold anti-inflammatory properties; however this is still yet to be proven. While countries have banned the use and institute of tiger bone, illegal yield persists in any Asian countries. In China there are any operations engaged in 'farming' of tigers. They are pressuring the government to allow them to furnish and institute tiger products as their captive population reaches 5,000.
South Kyrgyzstan
Other markets comprise poaching for skin, teeth and claws. Due to habitat decrease another threat that has been construction up over the years is conflict killings. Tigers have been shot due to farmers protecting their livestock.
On International Species facts System, Isis, a non-profit organization that provides zoological data, there was a total of 164 males, 190 females, 4 unknowns and 3 births for the Panthera Tigris. Out of which 7 males, 11 females and three births were all in South Africa.
Ecologically speaking, loss of large cats such as tigers from their natural habitat has been seen to corollary in irreversible changes in natural ecosystems. Being at the top of the food-chain, the decline of large predators inevitably leads to over-abundance of herbivores such as deer, which in turn has repercussions on tree regeneration and seed dispersal. Such effects reverberate through the food-web, causing long-term changes in natural flora and fauna, eventually foremost to species losses. For instance, the absence of carnivores has led to over-population of white-tailed deer in Eastern United States, of blue bull in the Gangetic plains of northern India and agoutis in Barro Colorado Island, Panama.
Wwf is currently running a campaign to double the whole of tigers in the wild by the next Chinese tiger year - 2022. They plan on doing this by securing urgency funds to halt poaching, while securing political will and action as well as protecting tiger habitat. Tigers in normal do breed genuinely given enough space, prey and security from poaching. Director of the Tygerberg Zoo in the Western Cape just a few years ago had success with her captive tigers, telling South African Biodiversity in an interview the same principles - Happy animals make babies.
If actions doesn't start soon, it is improbable that wild tigers will be extinct in the next 12 years.
Tiger Extinction - Only 3,200 LeftSee Also : todays world news headlines
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