Hallways in the Rainforest

Panthera is crazy.


Tiger Corridors from Panthera Cats on Vimeo.

If they honestly believe that their dream of a 'tiger corridor' will ever be fully realized... they'll be dreaming for a loooong time. I believe that's what we call a coma?

That aside, I think it's great that they're trying to do this. It really does take some guts to go out lobbying for wildlife in countries ranging from India to Burma to Indonesia. These are countries so focused on following in the footsteps of great countries like Britain and the USA economically, and are really uninterested in anything that doesn't involve getting handphones and cable tv to their entire populations. Note that Britain ran out of its own forests in about the 1700's, if not before then. The need for resources is what triggered the whole 'colonialism' thing. So if we all follow the wonderful examples given to us by our European powers, what are the Asians going to colonize for their resources? Antarctica? Mars, perhaps? You tell me.

I mean, Panthera really is making progress. Just r e a a a a l l y....reaaallly....r e aaaaa l y s l o o o o o o o o o o o o o w w w l l y y y. Of all places, they managed to secure a whole valley in Burma! Again with these military regimes caring about the environment.

I don't get it.

In a way, though, I do. I had this conversation once with somebody, and they pointed out that in a place where the people are controlled so much, things like poaching and logging are much easier to monitor. I'm not saying we should all revert to communism, but it might help if we plan on doing anything about nature. Oh, that's right, I forgot. We don't have any plans of doing anything about conserving nature.

And lastly...how are the tigers going to know it's a corridor? I get the feeling a "tigers this way please" sign isn't going to work on them. I believe this is a concept that will be interesting to see play out. Between the tigers going the wrong way and the people throwing fits, I don't know which will prove worse to watch.

What Have Numbers Got To Do With It?

Just some numbers I've come across lately that are rather interesting.
We'll start with this. I was curious the other day, after some conversations with the parentals. And I found this.
http://www.earthsendangered.com/list_html.asp
When you eventually find your way to the bottom of this enormous list, you will find the total number of endangered animals. As of today, there are 10,801 endangered animals on the planet.
10,801!
Now while you think about that figure.
Think about the money spent on that so-called 'World Tiger Summit' last November. Basically, they spent around USD 1.4 million of taxpayers' money so that they can sit happily in an air-conditioned room in a fancy hotel in Russia and use flowery, useless language about all the wonderful things they're doing for conservation.
USD 1,400,000
Granted, I don't buy it. They were underestimating to make us feel better about it, surely.
And, surprise surprise, world tiger populations remain at an all time low of 3,200 at the highest estimation. Woohoo. That's one tiger for approximately every 2,117,261 people.
1 tiger: 2,117,261 people
Sorry, I'm enjoying pointing this out a little too much. But yeah, just some food for thought.
Maybe if we divide each tiger into 2,117,261 little bits all our problems would be solved. No more tigers to 'harass' everyone, and we all get to try our hand at this amazing chinese medicine stuff. All 0.000000000004 grams of it!

P.S. Note the sarcasm while reading that last little bit.

Tigers vs. People

How is it that, no matter the circumstances, the animals are always the ones who are at fault? Humans are always the victims. When a tiger kills a human, much more effort is taken to catch that tiger and kill it, compared to the lame attempts to capture poachers and animal abusers, with even more lenient sentences. Tigers are not the only carnivores that suffer from this kind of treatment.

For every shark that kills a human, a human kills around 250,000 sharks. Fair, huh? Even the most common of sharks are at risk because their fins are ‘good to eat’. Just like tiger…er…parts…are good for libido. And bear bile cures heart disease. You can’t believe everything people believed hundreds of years ago, whether it’s to preserve culture or not. Some of it is just plain bogus! And I mean, who in their right minds wants to put that sort of stuff in their mouths anyway?

Still, I think people look past basic facts to make themselves feel better. Don’t get me wrong, I feel sorry for the villagers who’ve lost family members…oh wait, sorry, the people the tigers killed were illegal deforesters. It seems fair enough that the tigers want these people out, you would want someone out of your house if they just knocked down the door one day and started removing your couch and dresser and raided the kitchen. And kept doing it!

People are angry at starving tigers, who, without any other source of food, attack livestock and people. Well it’s not the tigers’ fault humans have not only destroyed their habitat, but depleted their food source. Have some sense, it’s a food chain, can’t be that hard to understand. Here, I’ll illustrate a really bare-as-bones version.

Alright, so what’s really happening is that the humans come, kill the plants, and then kill the quiet cute herbivores. What’s left for the tigers to eat?

That’s right kids. Nothing.

AND YOU WONDER WHY THEY’RE KILLING PEOPLE?

WORLD TIGER DAYYY

Well everyone, it’s WORLD TIGER DAY!

Originally started by The Phoenix Fund, a Russian NGO sponsored by Save the Tiger in 2003, and celebrated every last Sunday of September, World Tiger Day has slowly grown in popularity. It has been used as a worldwide way to spread tiger awareness. (Yeah, really not much of a history there)

Celebrate today by spreading awareness of the plight of the tiger, whether it’s by posting something online or wearing your striped t-shirt. Anything goes!

            Get your World Tiger Day avatar, done by the Bush Warriors, here: http://bushwarriors.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/celebrate-world-tiger-day-with-us-this-sunday-september-26th/ 

            Happy world tiger day everybody; remember to do your bit! :)

The Idea is Born

I’m not sure where this idea came from, but it’s stuck. I’ve known that tigers have been in a critical condition for a long time now, but I didn’t realize just how bad it was. There are a total of around 3200 tigers left in the wild, worldwide. That’s approximately one tiger to every 1,875,000 people. Half of this population is in India, and only one third are breeding females. We could be losing tigers, one of the most well known animals worldwide, completely within my lifetime. They have been mercilessly attacked by people, facing habitat encroachment, limited prey and poaching for their skin, meat and bones. It’s not their time yet, that I’m sure of. That’s why I’m doing this. Together we can make a difference – this doesn’t have to be the last year of the tiger.