Why are Tigers in Danger?

Today I will be discussing the endangerments of this beautiful creature, but first I want to talk about an event that occurred to me this week. What happened to me this week is extremely ironic being that my plan was to share what I have learned about the endangerments of tigers.

On Sunday I found a small kitten roaming in my back yard. He had been separated from his mom. The kitty was about 4-6 weeks old. Although the kitten had been through a couple of rough days, he reminded me of what a baby tiger would look like. His fur was orange, just like a tiger and his eyes were gray with a pink nose. He was extremely cold and covered with fleas. I knew if I left him out there, he would have suffered a slow painful death. I wasn’t sure what to do with him so my mom and I agreed to take him to a shelter. Although I understand what happens to many animals at a shelter, the thought of him dying in my presence was horrifying to me. I hope my decision to leave him at the shelter didn’t further endangered his life. I do hope he soon finds a good home for someone to care for him.

Here’s a picture of him.

Now on to Tigers –The reason many tigers are endangered is because of human activity. One of the major reasons tiger populations are in great danger is from poaching. Humans hunt them and use their body parts like paws, fur, tails, teeth and heads for accessories which are sold overseas for a lot of money. Many parts are sold in the black market for traditional Chinese medicine. Tiger bones and nearly all body parts are used in traditional Chinese medicine for many purposes including pain killers. When people are willing to pay such high prices for Tiger parts for medicinal purposes, it encourages poaching thus greatly reducing the population of Tigers in the wild. Over a century ago there were over 100,000 tigers in the world, now sadly the global numbers are below 2,500 mature tigers.

Tigers are an endangered species, and because of this the support for endangered animals is very crucial. If these animals aren't protected now there won’t be any left. It is the responsibility of everyone to protect these endangered creatures so that one day they may thrive again.

There is no scientific proof that using tiger parts provides any healing benefits, but here’s a list of reasons why Tigers parts which are in such high demand in traditional Chinese medicine:

·         Tiger tails are grinded and mixed with soap to create and ointment used for treating skin cancer.

·         Tiger bones found in the tip of their tails are said to ward off evil spirits.

·         Crushed tiger bones added to wine serve as a Taiwanese tonic.

·         Tigers paws are dipped in palm oil and hung in front of a door to diminish evil spirits.

·         Tiger gallstones mixed with honey treats abscesses of hands and feet.

·         Tiger brains mixed with oil and applied to the body allegedly treats acne and laziness (silly).

·         Tiger eyeballs rolled into pills allegedly treats convulsions.