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The Tiger is a mammal of the Felidae family, the largest of four "big cats". Native to much of eastern and southern Asia, the tiger is an apex predator and an obligate carnivore. Highly adaptable, tigers range from the Siberian taiga to open grasslands to tropical mangrove swamps. They are territorial and generally solitary animals, often requiring large contiguous areas of habitat that support their prey demands. Of the nine subspecies of modern tiger, three are extinct and the remaining are classified as endangered, some critically so.

Their historical range, which once reached from Mesopotamia and the Caucasus through most of South and East Asia, has been radically reduced. While all surviving species are under formal protection, poaching, habitat destruction and inbreeding depression continue to be major threats.

In the 1970's we came dangerously close to losing forever this one of the world’s most magnificent creatures. Poaching, deforestation, and human expansion brought all species of tiger to the brink of extinction. Over the past century, 3 of the 9 sub-species that existed became extinct, the Caspian, Javan and Balinese tigers. Today, are by no means out of the woods. All remaining sub-species of tiger are endangered, making the tiger species as a whole nearly extinct.

Tiger population dropped over the past 100 years by a factor of 25 from an estimated 100,000 in 1900 to only 4000 in the 1970's. A concerted effort by wildlife protection groups in the 1970's halted their rapid demise and the global population of tigers in the wild has grown modestly to around 6000 at the turn of the century. Today history has repeated again, heading towards the worst of all. Poaching continues to this day, however. When a poacher can make as much from a single tiger kill as he would normally earn in 6 years, it will take more than words to halt this tragedy.

The primary direct causes of their extinction are habitat destruction and fragmentation and hunting.

Tigers have 40 per cent less habitat than they did a decade ago, due to farming, intense poaching and the rise of an Asian middle class that puts pressure on the big cats and their environment. "They're suffering from international crime, economic exploitation and environmental depredation.

Tigers live in just 7 per cent of their historic range, which once included large areas from the shores of the Black Sea to the Korean peninsula. The biggest tiger landscapes now are in the Russian Far East and northeastern China and along the Nepal-India border.

Poaching of tigers for body parts, used for traditional medicines, has contributed to the animals' decline. "There's a rising middle class in Asia that can now afford tiger parts," Today the total estimated number of tigers in the wild at fewer than 5,000. To provide the best home we can for the animals in our care and to reduce the number of cats that suffer the fate of abuse, abandonment or extinction by teaching people about the plight of the cats, both in the wild and in captivity, and how they can help through their behavior and support of better laws to protect the cats.

The time is now to save these magnificent cats, before they vanish from the earth forever. There is little time left to preserve these animals, immediate action is required. The latest predictions state that tigers will be extinct in the wild by the year 2015. That is less than 12 short years from now. That’s less then 14 years to save a creature that has been around far longer then ourselves.

I cannot imagine, nor would I wish to live in a world without tigers ... without these magnificent creatures in our forests living free.

Remember... Extinction is forever

You can help

* Use recycled paper, plastic and glass products wherever and whenever possible - Recycle your paper, plastic and glass products in your home and workplace.

* Conserve electricity at home and in the workplace.

* Conserve gasoline by driving a modern fuel efficient vehicle.

* Support development of eco-friendly commerce and occupations in your own community as well as in developing countries.

* Support environmental educational centers, wildlife sanctuaries and zoos in their mission to preserve and protect our treasured wildlife.

* Support development of alternative energy sources - use solar, wind & water power to run your home.

* Involve yourself directly or indirectly and in large or small ways to save tigers. Join a conservation organization. Support organizations working to save the tiger.

*Sign up with all possible online wildlife conservation websites you find on the internet and leave a note urging them to “ Protect Tiger.”

*Education is key to developing sensitivity and awareness to our environment. Our children hold the hope for the future of the tiger. Heightened awareness of environmental issues will help assure our children grow up to respect and care for our global environment.

*While there are many of us who consider the human race to be above every other living being on earth, this thinking is folly and may lead to our own eventual destruction.

* China is one of the highest consumers of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) if you practice TCM, please let your doctor or herbalist know how strongly you feel about not using any medicines derived from endangered species.

*Always remember this and preach “When the buying stops, the killing can too”.

*Write a letter to your Government bodies urging them to protect Tigers.


"A world where the animals we share it with are treated with respect and caring and where habitat is preserved to insure the indefinite future survival of these wonderful gifts of nature. In creating such a world, we hope the same principles of respect and caring will carry over to the way humans treat each other"

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