Tigers: Critically endangered, majestic cats

[plan]

One of the things that depresses me most is the current situation with tigers. Basically, habitat destruction and poaching have them on the brink of extinction. There is a massive market for tiger parts, fueled by bunk "Chinese medicine," which leads people to kill the few remaining tigers.

Anyway, I watched this documentary a month ago or so, and it is absolutely incredible. It's called "Tiger: Spy In The Jungle"

What makes it so special is that the film team used elephants to get closer to tigers than ever before. The elephants carry several different kind of cameras, with names like Trunk Cam, Rock Cam, Tree Cam...all of them designed to look like objects in the jungle. Because tigers and elephants co-exist peacefully in the jungle (tigers don't hunt in packs like lions do, so elephants are too big and too much trouble, and elephants are herbivores who are not interested in tigers), the elephants and their cameras are able to get extremely close to a tigress and her four newborn cubs.

And wow! Seeing this extraordinary mother raise her cubs is incredible. If you like this, please share it with everyone you know, and encourage them to donate to groups like WWF that fund anti-poaching and conservation efforts. We cannot lose such magnificent and beautiful animals.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I've been signing petitions and donating to )well-vetted) tiger funds for years.  I really do not want to think of my granddaughter growing up in a world that sees the last tiger die.  I want them to burn bright in their fearful symmetry for centuries to come.

 

[plan]

Well put. It will be really sad, and a crime, for kids to grow up in a world where tigers are something you can only see in photographs and videos. Personally I can't understand how some people "own" tigers as pets when they're endangered, not to mention NOT the kind of animal that should be kept as a pet.

 

[kittens mom]

 
I've been signing petitions and donating to )well-vetted) tiger funds for years.  I really do not want to think of my granddaughter growing up in a world that sees the last tiger die.  I want them to burn bright in their fearful symmetry for centuries to come.

I believe I heard a rather vague statistic that there are more tigers in backyards in Texas than left in the wild. And a great deal of that gene pool in inbred and defective.  Even in areas where it has been proven to the local people and governments that the animals alive can generate more money for their country , hotels, tourism the slaughter continues.  Even though the Chinese have proven they can breed the tiger in captivity for their ancient medicinal needs. ( gag) the slaughter continues.  Armed militia and armies cannot stop the slaughter. Decimated habitat means animal territories now overlap human urban sprawl. More killing. I don't see an end to it until there is nothing left to kill.

 

[plan]

I have to be honest, it infuriates me so much that it's depressing to think about, and I feel utterly helpless. I mean, what can you do besides donate and try to spread the word?

Worse, I know people who just shrug it off and say, "Oh well. That's nature."

No. No, it's not. It's human stupidity, robbing the Earth of one of its most iconic species and its genetic legacy. It is the worst of human behavior. Regardless of how deadly they can be, tigers are innocent animals that only want to survive.

What especially makes me angry is that there are U.S. congressmen and senators who have recommended Chinese medicine as an "alternative" to real medicine, thus contributing to the problem.