Tigers are close to extinction

Tigers are close to extinction

According to television's Discovery Channel, only five species of tiger are left on our planet and all are threatened with extinction. Fast disappearing is the Bengal tiger, the Sumatran tiger, the Indo-Chinese tiger, the South China tiger and the Siberian tiger (Pantherus tiger) the largest cat in the world. All cats belong to the felidae family.

Today an estimated 5,000 of these sleek felines are left in the world with numbers dwindling and the situation seemingly out of control.

In 1979 the Royal Forestry Department conducted a survey on the feline population in forest reserves and discovered there were only 400 to 500 panthers and not more than 200 tigers in Thailand. Twenty of these are thought to be in the Khao Yai National Park. However, experts predict they will be extinct by the year 2000 unless they are afforded adequate protection.

There are only around 200 of the magnificent Siberian tigers left in the north-eastern part of China. The numbers are steadily decreasing because of unrestricted hunting. These majestic creatures are mercilessly hunted for their hides and organs. A tiger's sexual organ is considered an aphrodisiac. There is a large black market for tiger organs fetching up to $60,000 in the case of Siberian tiger. Its bones are ground into medicines that are said to heighten a man's sexual appetite. There is a ready market for these animal parts, particularly inTaiwan.

Body parts of this wild creature can fetch large amounts of cash on the black market incluing the hides, blood and even flesh and whiskers. A tiger's hide can fetch up to 800,000 baht.

Unless people begin to act more responsibly towards the world's endangered creatures, many more will become extinct. Not many years from now you may find the tiger may simply be a zodiac sign to be used to check your horoscope.

Jaguar Tiger

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Information

: Tigers are close to extinction, Art of Living Magazine, Thailand, April 1998, P. 28.