#nature #wildlife #cats #tigers #conservation

The Plight of the Tiger

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First things first I want to introduce the tiger. We all know what they look like, big rusty orange cats with black stripes and little white ear spots. What many don't realise is that there isn't just the one tiger there are many, and there have been more.

Tiger Subspecies

Extant Tiger Subspecies

The name Tiger refers to a number of subspecies within the Panthera tigris group. While the taxonomy of tigers is an incredibly complex and in some circles a contentious topic, the current widely accepted extant subspecies are:

• Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica)
• Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris)
• Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti)
• Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris malayensis)
• South China tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis)
• Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae)

While these are not extinct, it’s worth noting that they are not all doing great in the wild. Some estimates suggest there are less than 20 South China tigers in the wild, a population that sadly is very unlikely to recover.

Extinct Tiger Subspecies

There are currently three recognised subspecies of tigers that are classified as extinct in the wild. These are the Bali tiger (Panthera tigris balica), the Caspian tiger (Panthera tigris virgata), and the Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica). Details and photos of these tigers are scarce when compared to extant tigers due to the fact they have been extinct for a number of years. The Bali tiger was declared extinct in 1938, the Javan tiger around the 1960s and the Caspian tiger in the 1970s.

Amur tiger running through the water towards a lump of meat thrown in (Captive).

The Plight of the Tiger

So what happened to all these tiger sub-species? Well that’s a complex question to answer but in short, humans got involved. Over the years the tigers enigmatic qualities became its arch enemy. Many cultures chased the mysterious creatures for their supposed healing powers. They slaughtered tigers en-masse to create unproven traditional medicines and treatments. None of which have any scientific backing. Similar to traditional medicine, humans wanted tiger pelts in their homes. They wanted to prove their social status by slaying the king of the jungle and parading its pelt to their friends, families and acquaintances. We also can’t forget that we share this planet with humans that have a desire for blood, they prize the slaughter of these magnificent animals. Theres a prevalent weakness in those who think trophy hunting is acceptable.

Aside from those mentioned, there’s a reason that’s much more contentious. Human-wildlife conflict. If you or I had to head out into the forest to gather firewood so that we could cook and stay warm, would we value a tigers life greater than our own? A tough one to decide on. How about if a tiger killed and ate our only livestock? You see it’s all well and good preaching that we need to save the tiger, but in the face of one ending your life, how do you choose? Sadly, the choice is always to kill the tiger, and this results in many, many tiger deaths.

As a result of the above human actions, tigers are on the brink of disappearing from the planet. Across the vast habitats spanning from the northern reaches of Russia, down to China and across the rest of the asian continent, there are estimated to be between 3,900 and 5,600 individuals. Put another way, you could offer every wild tiger a seat at the Royal Albert Hall for a performance on how humans are wiping them from the Earth. You’d need 2 million Royal Albert Halls to show every human the same performance. Thankfully, the internet provides us with an infinitely large arena to share such information.

How can you help?

Helping the tiger isn’t as hard as you think. In a world with climate change and global pandemics, helping the tiger is actually not hard. I remember being told a story where human-wildlife conflict was resolved in a very simple way. Local people were provided access to firewood so that they didn’t need to and collect it from the forest. A simple investment made a huge difference, not only to the tigers, but to the people who lived there. No longer were the tigers an enemy.

If you’re here you probably care about tigers in some way. Donating a small bit of change, say £3 each month will go a long way to keeping tigers in the wild. It’s a simple as that. Not all of us are fortunate enough to have spare change, so if you can’t donate money, donate time. Talk to people about tigers, go to your local ethical zoo (see what makes a good zoo below) to watch and learn about tigers. Make people aware that tigers are worth more alive.

My Tiger Portfolio

I’ve been a big cat lover for a long time, and when I picked up my first camera in 2015 it was the first animal I photographed at my local wildlife park (pictured). As you can imagine, photographing tigers in the wild is neither easy nor cheap so I stick to capturing images of them in captivity. For now.

Every image of a tiger on this website is taken in captivity. One day I hope to change that. See my wild tigers here.

The first animal I photographed back in 2015 (captive).

My Views On Captive Tigers

Captive animals are one of the most controversial topics within wildlife conservation, but I don’t think it needs to be. Before I start I need to clarify that I only speak for ethical, registered and approved zoological organisations and none of my opinions applies to the likes of the G.W Zoo as seen on Netflix’s Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.

In my opinion, captive animals serve three main purposes; education, research and gene pool security.

• Education is a critical part of what Zoos do. It’s a well-known fact that humans tend to only support things that they care about, so showing them animals that they otherwise might not know to exist is really important. If people form a bond with an animal, they will want to protect it, a bit like how people will do anything for their beloved pets.

• Research underpins everything we do. It stands to reason that if we can learn everything there is to know about an animal we might just be able to put that knowledge into practice to try and save them in the wild. Captive animals allow scientists to research many biological topics that might not be possible in the wild. Granted, you can’t assume what you see in a zoo is representative of what happens in the wild, but it’s a good start and one that I think is really important.

• Gene pools are complex. In Europe, each species that has a breeding program has a studbook keeper. This is usually someone based at large zoological organisations such as ZSL, and that have world-leading knowledge of the species. At the time of writing the studbook keeper for Amur tigers is based at ZSL. Ultimately if we ever need to reintroduce a species into the wild, we will need a sufficient genetic pool in captivity to do so without introducing inbreeding. Captive animals can have their DNA analysed and then matched with other tigers in order to produce genetically unique offspring with no risk of inbreeding. The gene pool for Amur tigers in captivity is still far from sufficient for reintroduction.

Tiger Photography

With all the above in mind, here is a selection of my favourite captive tiger images. The majority of these photos are of Amur tigers with a few Sumatran tigers added to the mix.

I was actually asked to take these photos down by one of the zoos where I took them after we fell out because I don't believe they are satisfactorily meeting the above criteria of a good zoo. For the record said zoo, these are my photos of which I own the copyright. I don't make money from them and instead use them for the purposes you should be championing, not trying to shut down.

Superb backlit photograph of a tiger sprinting as if to chase down her prey (captive).

Tigers, unlike most cats, love to swim and get wet (captive).

Stalked by a larger male Amur tiger (captive).

A Amur tiger cub sites on a rock in evening golden light (captive).

The beautiful Sumatran tiger with it's striking dark place lines and rusty orange coat (captive).

Created by Niall Bell (niall@niallbell.com)