Team-BHP - Save The Tiger

Having been lucky enough to see these magnificent creatures in the wild, I am sickened but not surprised to read this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5385446.stm

Tigers are far more valuable to a nation like India alive instead of dead.

Once again the politicians have shown how inept and useless they truly are.

I have a few suggestions:

- Remove all human inhabitants from protected reserves (villagers & tigers don't mix!)

- Fund & train effective armed patrols in all tiger sanctuaries (in the short term bring in the Army)

- Develop alternative sources of income for those tempted to carry out or aid poaching

- Introduce a fast track court system for cases of tiger poaching and ensure swift and harsh punishment for all those involved

- Educate people of the benefits of tiger conservation (biodiversity, tourist income etc.)

- Instill a sense of national pride by promoting the tiger as a "symbol of India". This would include public education (posters etc.) as well as more emphasis on the subject for school children.

- Lobby politicians and corporations for their support

- Involve Bollywood movie makers who could promote tiger conservation in their films

- Lobby and cooperate with countries like China to reduce the demand for tiger skins

- Move the issue higher up on the International agenda (UN etc.)

- Donate to Tiger Conservation programs such as Project Tiger and the WWF

Really really sad..
With 1/2 of the entire worlds tiger population in India,I hope the Govt does take IMMEDIATE action to ensure the safety of the tigers..
It was sad to read there were 1,00,000 tigers in the world just 100 years back,while right now,there are less than 5,000 !!!..
Also - the law against tiger poaching should be escalated directly to Death Sentence for the poachers..(even though it sounds too harsh,I feel it's a totally necessary step towards preserving the species..)..that way,poachers will surely think 10 times before trying their luck on any tiger)..

-sr

The biggest threat to tigers today is not poachers, its the people who breed poachers. These illegal players are the ones who sell prohibitted stuff to the masses. The poachers are mere dummies in the hands of these scoundrels. There is only one mantra " When the buying stops, the killing can too"...so dont buy animal products, discourage others and educate the rest.

p.s: With our uneducated and criminal politicians runnin the country nothing much can be expected anyways! So lets take things in our own hands and fight...

Quote:

NEW DELHI Sep 27, 2006 (AP)— The tiger population of India will vanish within a handful of years, and governments in India and China have not done enough to stem the rapid decline, environmentalists warned on Wednesday.
Markets for tiger skins and other pelts are flourishing in Chinese-controlled Tibet a year after they were first exposed, said representatives of two environmental agencies who secretly filmed the trade there.
Pictures taken in Tibet and shown at a news conference Wednesday featured dozens of tiger and leopard skins openly on sale, while in others, Chinese police officers laugh and pose with people wearing illegal costumes made of tiger skins.
The groups the Wildlife Protection Society of India and the international Environmental Investigation Agency, a nonprofit British-based group laid the blame at the hands of the Indian and Chinese governments for failing to stop the trade.
"In China the police have decided to turn a blind eye to the slaughter of tigers in India," said Belinda Wright, the director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India.
India, meanwhile, has not put together an effective force to combat poaching after 12 years of talking about it, she said.
"It is the politics in India that is killing the tiger, the petty agendas and personal rivalries," she said.
Poaching has caused India's tiger population to drop sharply and seriously threatens the species' survival. The U.S. National Geographic Society estimated in 2001 that only 5,000 to 7,000 Bengal or Indian tigers existed in the wild, about half in India.
However, conservationists believe the official estimates of tigers in the wild are grossly exaggerated and that the true figure may be closer to 2,000 or as little as several hundred.

from http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ory?id=2497620

Hi all,

Please visit the following link at NDTV and sign up for the online petition to Save Tiger.

Save the Tiger

It was almost exactly a year ago that we met the legendary Fateh Singh Rathore, former director of Ranthambore National Park. He had painted a very grim picture of Tiger conservation projects, at a time when the government was seen patting its own back over the increase in tiger population. He felt the govt numbers were just a mirage. How prophetic he was!

I am not sure if this will indeed force the govt or the babudom into some sort of action, but this is the least we can do for this wonderful, wonderful animal.

To use a parlance to the auto industry in India, imagine how we would feel if the dear old Amby, the fantastic Palio or the superb OHC faces similar 'extinction' from Indian roads.

As Jim Corbett said:

"A tiger is a large-hearted gentleman with boundless courage, and when he is exterminated - as exterminated he will be unless public opinion rallies to his support - India will be the poorer by having lost the finest of her fauna."

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaAT (Post 730735)

Tiger it is.

(Save Tiger, Twenty20)

Thanks! I guess my memory is fading away!:Frustrati We are 20,000 strong and if each of us signs up, I am sure it'll make a lot of difference.

Dear Mods,

May I propose that we make this thread a sticky for the next couple of weeks so that it's not lost amidst other posts and we can contribute our share to the Project.

Mods Please Make this a sticky. We can make a difference if everyone signs up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by amtak (Post 730769)

One of the things motorists can do to save the Tiger is follow some basic rules while driving through forests.

1. Do not throw any items out of your car. Wild animals have a very sensitive sense of smell and get drawn to food easily. I am told many a time animals have suffered eating plastics along with the food. As many wild animals fall into the Tiger's food chain you indirectly are hurting the Tiger

2. Try not to be a disturbance to wild animals as you drive through forests. DO NOT use the horn, please don't stop for roadside picnics making a commotion as you have fun

3. Educate your children and friends about how Tiger conservation works. Only if the general public is aware of the threat to this magnificent creature then perhaps people for their greed won't compromise the Tiger conservation efforts by allowing poaching or buying animal based products.

If anyone can think of any other proactive methods we can all pitch in to do our bit please share your views