The New York Times ran an article on June 29, 2001 entitled ‘New Visions for Tiger Protection’. The article states that the leading experts (scientists) have a, "radical new vision". It seems they now believe that 100,000 tigers could roam the planet in 100 years if the governments will cooperate.

These are the governments who are now supporting the clear cutting of their rain forests to make way for new hydroelectric plants - the governments of countries whose populations are exploding, where habitat destruction runs rampant due to human encroachment.

Who are these fellows kidding? The only two things I envision protecting these, "huge tracts of tiger habitat remain intact" are funds, which the tiger range states do not have, or mother nature.

The really interesting thing about this article I wanted to point out was the figures quoted for the numbers of tigers in India. Now the low end estimate, which is probably closer to the true figure, puts them at 700. This closely mirrors what I’ve had on this site for the past three years.

Karanth stated, "Thirty years ago the tiger was on the brink of extinction in India, but armed protection in forest reserves helped turn the situation around…". Really! Tiger estimates were between 5,000 and 7,500 back then. Now there may be 700! What kind of turnaround is he talking about?

It’s the same rhetoric that came out of the London meeting back in February 1997. Here is a quote from a British attendee who contacted me after the symposium - "There was a recent broadcast on the 'Save the Tiger' update and Ullas Karanth was saying that he studied the tigers of Ranthambhore when there were about 30 known cats in the area, and now it appears there are less than five! How can they disappear under your very nose without drawing your attention? I find it all very odd to say the least."

If the tiger is going to be saved, Paleocene Park can do it. These fellows cannot.

"Larry Farrington, senior investigator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Torrence, Calif., says Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver, British Columbia, have become the primary hot spots of the Western world for importing illegal tiger parts and products. 'We make seizures of unlawfully imported and exported wildlife on a daily basis,' he says. 'The tiger skeleton and large-scale cases are less frequent, but they occur regularly.'

Farrington says the only reason his agents and those at other ports do not see more tiger parts is because so few are left. A new problem, however, involves domesticated tigers in the USA, which probably outnumber tigers in the wild. Farrington says he fears that these legally captive tiger pets are catching the eye of criminals. 'The number of cases so far is small, but some of the circumstances are fairly egregious,' Farrington says. 'There are true stories of hunters going to game farms where aging tigers are literally coaxed out of their cages and lured far enough away from the vehicle to appear to be in the wild, then shot and photographed.'

As more wild tiger disappear and the demand for medicinals continues to increase, Farrington says, 'our fear is sooner or later we will see some of these captive animals finding their way into illegal markets.' "

Mr. Farrington is correct, but understates the problem. When the tigers have disappeared in the wild great pressure will be brought to bear on the captive tigers. Tigers were also mistakenly referred to as domesticated and pets. If you've ever been around tigers you would know they are not pets nor domesticated, although some owners parade these animals around irresponsibly as if they were.

Most Recent Proclamation

A headline in the June 2, 2003 Environment News Service reads, “Conservationists Worry About Inaccurate Tiger Data.” The first paragraph continues:

“NEW YORK, New York, June 2, 2003 (ENS) - The New York based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) says a new study casts doubt on the method used by India's government to count tigers for the past three decades. The study finds that counting tiger "pugmarks" - or track prints - is still being used by the Indian government, even though the technique is scientifically flawed.”

Dr. Ullas Karanth, a scientist who has been studying tigers for the past twenty years and the lead author of a paper says that counting pug marks is inaccurate and thus makes it impossible for the Indian government to predict tiger populations.

Wow! What a revelation! Give me a break. I wrote about tiger population estimates being exaggerated by 100% - 200% five years ago. See Tiger Loss. Richard Ives mentioned this in his book Of Tigers & Men first published in 1946. The inaccuracy of using pug marks to identify tigers has been known for many years. Dr. Bleyman often spoke about the futility of using that method a decade ago. In fact, look at this.

The following is quoted from a Tiger Trust article by Michael Day, founder of Tiger Trust in the UK.

"Scientist and tiger expert Dr. K Ullas Karanth conducted an investigation into the reliability of the pugmark (tiger foot prints) technique and published his findings in a scientific paper in 1989. Dr. Karanth asked six wildlife managers, each having between 4 and 12 years of census taking experience behind then, to take part in a blind experiment which involved analyzing 33 tracings taken from an unspecified number of captive tigers. The results of the experiment showed that in fact none of the experts could identify even one tiger correctly and, quite remarkably, they estimated the total number of tigers involved in the experiment as being between 26 and 6. There were only four tigers used in the experiment."

The study was done in 1989! It’s being written about now as some kind of revelation. I believe it’s being used as more of an excuse for the remaining Indian tiger population. Why? Because the successful programs they’ve been reporting have not been successful. Stop the studying and concentrate solely on protection. If that’s not done the tiger’s in the wild will not survive!

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