SAVE TIGERS NOW

Ever since I can remember I’ve loved wildlife. I think almost all of us share this in common, that connection to nature and the wild and other living things. Notably, I’ve always been drawn to large cats, especially lions and tigers. After thinking about it all my life I decided to finally get involved. Last year I started looking into organizations I could learn more about and possibly work with to help support the animals I love so much.

After spending some time researching I was shocked to learn that over the past 100 years we (humanity) are responsible for wiping out 97% of all the tigers in the wild. As of today there are only 5574 tigers living in the wild. This really bothers me, how could we have let it get to this point?

We are excited to announce that as of March of 2022 we became official partners with the WWF & Save Tigers Now, a global campaign by the World Wildlife Fund and Leonardo DiCaprio to build political, financial and public support to double the number of tigers in the wild.

Some of the challenges faced by both tigers and conservationists are:

POACHING & ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE

The tiger, each and every part, is sold in illegal wildlife markets. Whiskers for toothaches, eyeballs for malaria, brain used to treat laziness and pimples. With absolutely no shortage of buyers, tiger parts are used in traditional medicine, superstition, and as status symbols among some Asian cultures. Poaching is the most urgent and serious threat to wild tigers.

HUMAN WILDLIFE CONFLICT

Space. Every day there is less and less space for people and tigers to share. This conflict threatens the world’s remaining wild tigers and poses major challenges for communities living in or around forests with tigers. As forests are reduced and prey gets harder to find, tigers are forced to hunt domestic livestock, which many communities depend on for their livelihood. As a result, tigers are killed or captured. “Conflict” tigers typically end up for sale on the black market.

HABITAT LOSS

Tigers have lost 93% of their historical range. Their habitat has been destroyed, degraded and fragmented by human activities. The clearing of forests for agricultural farming and industrial timber as well as building of road networks and other development activities are serious threats to tiger habitat, which creates other issues like inbreeding and makes tigers more vulnerable to poaching.

EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

One of the world’s largest tiger populations is located in the Sundarbans - a large mangrove forest land shared by India and Bangladesh on the northern coast of the Indian Ocean. This area is home to Bengal tigers and protects coastal regions from surges and wind damage. However, rising sea levels threaten to wipe out these forests and the last remaining habitat of this tiger population.