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| Will The Wild Tiger Exist 20 Years From Now? |
Devika Banerjee
02/15/2011
Will The Wild Tiger Exist 20 Years From Now?
Over the years the tiger’s landscape has drastically changed due to an expanding human population. Each year, dense forests are cleared for agriculture, industrialization and housing, ultimately causing the destruction of wildlife territory. As tigers compete with humans for their only habitat, these animals are losing the protection of the forest necessary for survival, along with less food to eat. In this century, poaching has also been another powerful factor leading to the rapid decline of the tiger population. For hundreds of years, tigers were hunted for sport and to trade their highly valued skin, teeth or claws. The invention of the gun led to a massive slaughter during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Efforts to enforce poaching laws are insufficient due to lack of funds, while smuggling continues in the absence of weak enforcement.
In short, the human pressures on the tigers are clearly intense and escalating due to deforestation, population expansion and poaching. All have had a cumulative effect on this species and it is a miracle that wild tigers have survived until now. Nevertheless, humans have also played a critical role in the survival of tigers and preserving the habitat of Bengal tigers has particularly been a long tradition in India in the last century. Preservation areas in India and other parts of Asia have been established for the Bengal tigers, in order to maintain the tiger population in the natural environment for scientific, cultural and economic purposes. For example, Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh is a safe haven for the Bengal tiger. An alarming survey has revealed that there are fewer than 1,500 Bengal tigers living in India. It is quite possible that a few decades from now the wild tiger may become extinct. Wildlife conservation movements are establishing protective measures to prevent friction between tigers and local communities. Efforts to preserve the tiger habitat without relocating local people have been emphasized. The construction of village irrigation systems to avoid water collection from the tiger reserves and the installation of solar-powered lighting to keep tigers away from livestock, are some of the methods to avoid man-animal interaction.
Tigers, known as the “King of the Cats,†play a fundamental role as the topmost predator in the forests of Asia. Saving the tiger means protecting biodiversity and vast ecosystems on earth that rely on this top predator. The tiger is the symbol of wilderness and balance of the ecosystem and nature. Because tigers control the food chain, their extinction will trigger many other species to die out and the overabundance of others. Therefore, protecting the tigers inevitably preserves every other species that depends on the ecosystem for survival.
So, how can you help even though you may not live in a country that has wild tigers? the future for the tiger is uncertain, we can save the tigers by preserving further damage to nature through timely action and spreading global awareness about the fate of the Royal Bengal tigers. Time is of essence here and the whole world needs to help!
Devika Banerjee is
a senior at Newton North High School
who is working to raise awareness about tigers for a year-long Environmental
Service Project. This summer, she trained and cared for abused dogs at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(MSPCA) at Angell Memorial Hospital, Boston. Along with her interest in animals,
she is avidly involved in athletics and the creative arts. This past fall she
was the captain of the girls cross country team in her high school and she
continues to compete winter and spring track at the Reggie Lewis indoor arena
in Boston. For
the past twelve years she has also been learning the Odissi form of Indian classical dance and Hindustani classical
singing. Her other hobbies include traveling and skiing.
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