Dominick Cucinello
2/13/12
We all know from the media that Tigers all over the world on inching ever closer to extinction. It seems now that they are close to the end. There was a five day summit meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia. The meeting was set by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the president of World Bank Robert Zoellick. The others at the meeting included all the nations that having populations of tigers still living in the wild and representatives from major conservation organizations. The meetings aim is to identify sites, in countries that, have breeding females and enough room to support an increase in the population and then protect them. Another focus of the meetings is to attempt to effectively pursue the illegal dealers and buyers of tiger parts.
Tigers need to be protected; they are magnificent and secretive creatures that we still know very little about them. They are keystone predators that have a large effect on their ecosystem. The countries with populations of wild tigers could be in for what happened when wolves were removed and the Elk started eroding stream banks in Yellowstone National Park. With the tigers gone the prey they hunt for could cause environmental damage as well as damage to the ecosystem’s food chain.
Another cause for the diminishing tiger numbers is that there is an illegal market for tiger parts. In China the demand is especially high because in Chinese culture parts of the tiger are considered to contain magical powers. In 1993 China passed a piece of legislation that prevented the legal sale and trafficking of tiger parts. China’s premier attended the last day of the meetings which could be a sign of China’s willingness to conserve these animals. I feel this is just as important as saving their habitat because increasing the population through conservation is only going to make the illegal poaching get worse if there are not some harsh punishments for participating in any part of this process. I think that tigers could end up like some species in Africa. They are only going to be able to protect these animals in a wild game preserves that are guarded from poachers. Even the United States has an impact on this illegal trade. The United States has about 5,000 tigers living in captivity. They are open to being put on the black market because the government keeps no track on the location, ownership, or what becomes of the tigers.
At the current rate we could see the disappearance of tigers well within our lifetimes. They should be conserved so our future generations can see them not in a zoo, but perhaps on television, or if they are lucky enough in the wild.
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3 comments:
this all sounds too familiar from ethics class. i think that tigers should be protected and harsh punishment should be put on poachers. but once again we have a problem with local attitudes. the chinese think they are magical, its the poachers only way of income at times, and they are not viewed the same way as we view them. the united states is mostly at fault. there are more tigers in zoos than in the wild"". the reserves are a great thing. human populations and interest in tiger parts are at blame. unfortunately, we must all come to a realization. as more and more people live on this planet, the more animals will become extinct. its a somewhat of a natural cycle. it is sad to see, but we must work to protect the ones still out there and hope they survive, while not trying to manage them TOO much. hands off approach works better than people think.
Obviously, tigers do indeed need to be monitored closely and the few natural populations must be actively protected. I don't think that a hands off approach is the best way to deal with the management of tiger populations, because look where this past approach got them. A hands off approach is what lands a lot of tigers in captivity in hopes to preserve the animals that are left in a certain area. The illegal sale of the parts is also a fundamental aspect of this issue. You mentioned some legislation that was passed to address this in other countries. Was this effective? And, is there any talk of addressing this issue of selling tiger parts in the U.S. happening?
Agree with you! We got a taste of this issue with El Tigre, conservation of the jaguar, in Costa Rica.
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