Journal 8: Could Tigers Become Extinct?

For my eighth journal assignment I was required to find an environmental issue in the news or in a magazine article. While I was watching Bay News 9 one environmental issue caught my attention. The story that caught my attention was Tigers could be extinct in 12 years if unprotected.  This story came out on Sunday November 21, 2010, but it has been a growing issue for many years now.

 The World Wildlife Fund and other experts say only about 3,200 tigers remain in the wild, a dramatic plunge from an estimated 100,000 a century ago. These issues are being looked at further in St. Petersburg, Russia. A meeting to try and save this great animal was hosted by the Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin. The two main reasons why these animals are dying off is because of habitat destruction and poaching. “The summit approved a wide-ranging program with the goal of doubling the world's tiger population in the wild by 2022 that is backed by governments of the 13 countries that still have tiger populations: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam and Russia” (Bay News 9). They are trying to accomplish this by setting up reserves for the tigers. The group is also trying to conserve what wild forests they still have, so that the tiger population can grow and expand. All of the money that will be going toward saving these tigers will have to be donated. “Much has been done recently to try to save tigers, but conservation groups say their numbers and habitats have continued to fall, by 40 percent in the past decade alone.” The fact that these tigers are disappearing is very sad. A question that comes to my mind when I hear this is, why have these countries let the decline in animal population go this far? It is good to see that stronger efforts are being made before all of the wild tigers become extinct. Since,“Three of the nine tiger subspecies _ the Bali, Javan, and Caspian _ already have become extinct in the past 70 years" (Bay News 9). Hopefully the efforts that are being made by these countries are effective, but I have a feeling it will take a longer amount of time then they predict for the tiger population to make a comeback.

I found this quote in the Bay News 9 article and thought it was a perfect description of the tragedy that is occurring.
"Wild tigers are not only a symbol of all that is splendid, mystical and powerful about nature," the Global Tiger Initiative said in a statement. "The loss of tigers and degradation of their ecosystems would inevitably result in a historic, cultural, spiritual, and environmental catastrophe for the tiger range countries" (Bay News 9).

All information was found on the Bay News 9 website: http://www.baynews9.com/article/news/ap/november/175351/Tigers-could-be-extinct-in-12-years-if-unprotected.  The article was published on Sunday, November 21, 2010 and is called Tigers could be extinct in 12 years if unprotected.