Since 1900, the endangered tiger's habitat and numbers have been reduced by up to 95 per cent. Poachers continue to poison waterholes or set steel wire snares to kill tigers and tiger prey, selling their skins and body parts for use in traditional Chinese medicine.

Despite 20 years of international conservation efforts, we are losing ground to save the tiger as, on the endangered species list, all sub-species of tigers are considered critically endangered species.

Of the eight original subspecies of tigers, three have become extinct in the last 60 years, an average of one every 20 years.The Bali tiger became extinct in the 1930's. The Caspian tiger was forced into extinction in the 1970's. And the Javan tiger followed in the 1980's.

The number of tigers in the 1900's --over 100,000 -- dropped to 4,000 in the 1970's. Today, they are a critically endangered species with the total of all the wild populations of the five remaining subspecies (Bengal tigers, IndoChinese tigers, Siberian tigers, South China tigers, and Sumatran tigers) is an estimated 4,600 and 7,700 tigers.

It is known that all remaining tigers live in small, isolated populations in widely scattered reserves.

THE TIGERS

Of the eight original subspecies of tigers, three have become extinct in the last 60 years, an average of one every 20 years.

The number of tigers in the 1900's --over 100,000 -- dropped to 4,000 in the 1970's. Today, they are a critically endangered species with the total of all the wild populations of the five remaining subspecies  (Bengal tiger, Indochinese tiger, Siberian tiger, South China tiger, and Sumatran tiger)  is an estimated 4,600 and 7,700 tigers.

The Bengal tiger, or Royal Bengal tiger, roams a wide range of habitats including high altitudes, tropical and subtropical rainforests, mangroves, and grasslands. They are primarily found in parts of India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Indochinese tigers  are located across southern China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia Laos, Thailand and eastern Burma. It is estimated fewer than 1,500 Indochinese tigers are left in the wild. However since the tiger has a very wide range, it makes it difficult for researchers to determine the exact numbers. Some scientists believe the numbers may be a few as 1,200.

The Siberian tiger (or Amur- tiger), is considered a critically endangered species with the primary threats to its' survival in the wild being poaching and habitat loss from intensive logging and development. It is estimated the wild population of Siberian tigers at around 350-450 tigers.

The South China tiger is the smallest of all the tiger subspecies, and it is the most critically endangered. Little is know about their exact numbers in the wild, but some estimates would put the number at under 20 tigers. Others would say that estimate is high. The reality is that no South China tiger has been seen in the wild for the last 20 years.

The Sumatran tiger is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra off the MalaysianPeninsula. Their habitat ranges from lowland forest to mountain forest and includes evergreen, swamp and tropical rain forests. It is estimated that only between 500-600 Sumatran tigers remain in the wild, and the actual number may be as low as 400. And their population is dwindling rapidly.

THE STORY OF TIGERS IN CRISIS

The tiger, a critically endangered species, once lived in a vast region of wilderness that extended as far north as Siberia, as far south as the Indonesian island of Bali, as far west as Turkey, and as far east as the Russian and Chinese coasts.

From icy cold mountains and forests to steamy, tropical jungles, the tiger species has adapted to a variety of terrain.

Unlike lions, leopards and cheetahs, tigers prefer to live in densely covered land where they can hide in tall grasses, camouflaged by their dark stripes, and ambush their prey.

Tigers increasingly compete with expanding human population and industry for land and food, and many are killed by poachers who sell their skins and body parts as ingredients for traditional Chinese medicines.

If these trends continue,the wild tiger may evolve from being an endangered species and off the endangered species list to become an extinct species.

A few of the remaining endangered subspecies may survive only in zoos; others will live only in stories, pictures and myths, never again to roam the earth.

THE CRISIS FOR TIGERS

The tiger, one of the most magnificent animals in the world, is also one of the most enangered species in the world. A cat of beauty, strength, and majesty, the tiger is master of all and subject to none -- except humans.

Of the eight original subspecies of tigers, three have become extinct within the last 60 years; and there are less than 50 South China tigers left on this planet - few, and possibly none, survive in the wild.

Tigers increasingly compete with expanding human population and industry for land and food, and many are killed by poachers who sell their skins and body parts as ingredients for traditional Chinese medicines. If these trends continue,the wild tiger may evolve from being an endangered species and off the endangered species list to become an extinct species.

A few of the remaining endangered subspecies may survive only in zoos; others will live only in stories, pictures and myths, never again to roam the earth.

Deep in the heart of Russia in late 1991, A large female Siberian tiger lay waiting in the wilderness beneath the dim silvery glare of a full moon rising up behind the clouds. The tiger was waiting for the opportunity to make a kill to feed her four growing cubs nearby in the brush.

Her ground color of reddish-ochre accented by her unique series of grayish-black stripes splashed within her creamy-white coat which kept her hidden well from her potential prey. Her powerful, muscular body, with curved baseball mitt-sized paws would help her in her fight for food. Her eyes pierced the darkness, her ears twitched with each sound she heard, and her tail extended to increase her senses. She was alert; she was ready for an antelope or a deer if it came her way.

The tiger did not know that she was being hunted, she was the prey. There was a poacher in the midst of her wilderness and before she would have a chance to feed or raise her young, her last cry could be heard throughout the forest. As the sun returned from beyond the horizon, the cubs ventured out to find their mother, only to discover her remnants scattered across the ground where she had once been.

Gently, the cubs tugged at their mother trying to make her respond to their touch. She lay lifeless. The tiger cubs were now orphaned, lost and alone, all because of the demand for their mother's body parts for Chinese Traditional Medicine in a far off land.

The tiger, a critically endangered species, once lived in a vast region of wilderness that extended as far north as Siberia, as far south as the Indonesian island of Bali, as far west as Turkey, and as far east as the Russian and Chinese coasts. From icy cold mountains and forests to steamy, tropical jungles, the tiger species has adapted to a variety of terrain.

Unlike lions, leopards and cheetahs, tigers prefer to live in densely covered land where they can hide in tall grasses, camouflaged by their dark stripes, and ambush their prey.

In dense forests, it is easiest for a tiger to sneak up on prey when it is alone. Partly for this reason, unlike lions, tigers live solitary lives. Young tigers live with their mother until they are two or three years old -- old enough to fend for themselves and find territories of their own. Territories can range from 10 to 600 square miles.

Largest of all cats, tigers are formidable predators. With razor sharp claws, long teeth, and powerful jaws and legs, tigers can bring down animals far heavier than themselves, including buffalo, deer and wild boar. The tiger's speed and refined hunting skills also capture feasts of small prey, contributing to the 40 to 100 pounds (18 to 45 kg) of meat that tigers can eat in a day.

All tigers are striped. Like human faces, each tiger's markings are unique. The large, male Siberian tiger can grow to 13 feet (4 meters) in length and weigh 700 pounds (317 kg). Their long tails help them keep their balance through fast running turns. Their tails are also used to communicate with other tigers.

Since 1900, the endangered tiger's habitat and numbers have been reduced by up to 95 per cent. Poachers continue to poison waterholes or set steel wire snares to kill tigers and tiger prey, selling their skins and body parts for use in traditional Chinese medicine.

Despite 20 years of international conservation efforts, we are losing ground to save the tiger as, on the endangered species list, all sub-species of tigers are considered critically endangered species.

THE STATUS OF TIGERS

Of the eight original subspecies of tigers, three have become extinct in the last 60 years, an average of one every 20 years:

Bali tiger -- extinct in the 1930s

Caspian tiger -- extinct in the 1970s

Javan tiger -- extinct in the 1980s

The number of tigers in the 1900's --over 100,000 -- dropped to 4,000 in the 1970's. Today, they are a critically endangered species with the total of all the wild populations of the five remaining subspecies (Bengal, Indo-Chinese, Siberian, South China, and Sumatran) is an estimated 4,600 and 7,700 tigers. It is known that all remaining tigers live in small, isolated populations in widely scattered reserves. The largest concentration of tigers in one reserve is about 250.

Today wild tigers exist in Eastern Russia, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao Peoples' Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) , North Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Bhutan, India and Nepal.

The most critically endangered species is the South China or Amoy tiger whose numbers have plummeted from 4,000 in 1949 to fewer than 50 today. Perhaps none survive in the wild, and their chances of recovery are remote. Those that survive in Chinese zoos are all descendants of six tigers. They suffer from loss of genetic diversity and low reproduction.

The Siberian or Amur tiger is also severely threatened. In 1991, one-third of the Siberian tigers were killed to meet the demand for their bones and other parts used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Only 150 to 200 survive in the wild, on three reserves in the Russian Far East. About 490 are managed in international zoo conservation programs.

Little is known about the status of the Indochinese tiger due to its scattered habitat across Thailand, as well as Myanmar, southern China, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Vietnam and Malaysia. It is estimated that 900 to 1,200 are left in about 75 isolated reserves. About 60 live in zoos.

The Sumatran tiger population is estimated to be 400 to 500, confined to the island of Sumatra. Of these, 400 are found in five national parks and two game reserves. The other 100 live outside reserves, and their habitat is likely to be lost to expanding development in the near future.

Up to two-thirds of remaining tigers -- between 2,700 to 4,300 -- are Bengal tigers, found in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. However, all of these tigers are scattered in over 100 reserves. Approximately 333 live in captivity.

THE PROBLEMS TIGERS FACE

In order to live in the wild, tigers need water to drink, animals to hunt, and vegetation in which to hide. As the mountains, jungles, forests, and long grasses that have long been home to tigers disappear, so, too, do tigers.

Agricultural expansion, timber cutting, new roads, human settlement, industrial expansion and hydroelectric dams push tigers into smaller and smaller areas of land.

These forest fragments are surrounded by rapidly growing and relatively poor human populations, including increasing numbers of illegal hunters.

Without wilderness, the wild tiger will not survive.

HABITAT LOSS FOR TIGERS

In order to live in the wild, tigers need water to drink, animals to hunt, and vegetation in which to hide. As the mountains, jungles, forests, and long grasses that have long been home to tigers disappear, so, too, do tigers.

Agricultural expansion, timber cutting, new roads, human settlement, industrial expansion and hydroelectric dams push tigers into smaller and smaller areas of land. These forest fragments are surrounded by rapidly growing and relatively poor human populations, including increasing numbers of illegal hunters. Without wilderness, the wild tiger will not survive.

Population

Asia's explosive population growth demands that more and more land be converted to agriculture. Indonesia, for example, has the same population as the United States, but only ten percent of the land area. Almost all of Indonesia's lowland forest has been cleared for rice cultivation.

In India, where about 60 per cent of the world's wild tigers still roam, the human population has grown by 50 percent in the past 20 years. Over the past 40 years, China's population, the largest in the world, has more than doubled; and 99 per cent of China's original forest habitat has been destroyed.

Competition

As tigers compete with humans and industry for land, they find less and less to eat. Local people hunt the same prey as tigers do, pressing tigers to resort to domestic animals and, on rarer occasions, even humans. (Tigers are one of only two animals--the other is the polar bear--that are known to stalk humans.)

Threatened villagers often poison, shoot, or snare the encroaching tigers.In addition to food, local communities also need to use the surrounding patches of forest for livestock grazing and wood for fuel.

Tiger - Human Conflict

To protect tigers from poachers and the rapidly increasing loss of land, wildlife conservationists have worked with governments to establish wildlife reserves. Reserves are protected areas ranging in size from China's Xioaling at 21 km2 to Indonesia's Kerinci Seblat at 14,846 km2.

Most reserves, however, are isolated islands of forest in which the tiger has little chance to survive due to the difficulty of meeting mates, the threat of disease, and genetic drift and in-breeding. Furthermore, these "protected areas" are extremely difficult to protect.

Forestry and wildlife departments are too understaffed and under-budgeted to save the tiger from the intensity of poachers.

Lacking organization, compensation for high-risk work, training, camps inside the protected areas, night patrols, recognition, motivation, and resources such as firearms, vehicles and communication equipment, the guards' enforcement of anti-hunting laws is limited.

On one hand, communities, particularly rural ones, depend on natural resources for their livelihood and development. On the other hand, viable tiger populations may not survive in the wild beyond the year 2000. The dilemma between wilderness conservation and community development is real and complex.

Some efforts to protect tiger habitat have focused on programs aimed at reducing conflicts between tiger protected-area managers and people living in and around the reserves, although so far, few programs, if any, have been successful.

Political and economic conditions limit their effectiveness, especially given the onslaught of poachers who are killing tigers for the use of their body parts in traditional Chinese medicine.

Habitat protection, when combined with the promotion of alternatives to traditional Chinese remedies and stricter law enforcement, is a vital part of the strategy to save the tiger.

TRADE IN TIGER PARTS

The single greatest threat of extinction that looms over most Asian wildlife especially the endangered tiger, and pushes them to become endangered species, are the massive demands for traditional medicine.

The annual consumption of traditional remedies made of tiger bone, bear gall bladder, rhinoceros horn, dried geckoes and a plethora of other animal parts is of phenomenal proportions. It is believed that today at least 60 per cent of China's billion-plus inhabitants use medicines of this type.

The booming economies and personal incomes of Southeast Asia have caused demand and prices to soar, lifting the international trade in wildlife products to an estimated $6 billion-a-year business.

Why is there this demand?

The use of tiger parts in Chinese medicine is nothing new, but it has only been in recent years that the increase in the standard of living in southeast Asia has made these remedies available to most people.

It is no wonder then that this newly affluent population has had a great effect on wildlife numbers and the demand for tiger parts. In many places in China, tiger parts are a delicacy that is served at special private banquets.

The use of endangered tiger products and their medicines is seen as a symbol of high status and wealth. Some remedies list tiger parts as an ingredient, but the real animal parts are so expensive that often the medicines may have only trace elements; but even this is enough to promote the continued slaughter of the tiger.

In addition, in recent years there has been a resurgence in traditional practices fundamental to the history of Chinese society. This has been fueled by cultural pride, and a growing sentiment that western medicine contains some shortcomings in treating illness.

Furthermore, new communities around the globe including non-Asian communities, are supplementing traditional Chinese medicine treatments into their western style of medicine, igniting the demand for tiger parts beyond what can be supplied.

Who is Using Tiger Parts? Countries and Statistics

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) believes that at least one tiger is killed daily for its use in traditional Chinese medicine.

An increased demand for endangered tiger parts exists throughout the world. China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the United States, and Great Britain are involved in the tiger trade. One of the biggest markets for endangered tiger parts is Japan where legislation bans trade in endangered species, but does not cover products not readily recognizable, such as wine, pills and powders.

Hong Kong is the main importer of Chinese tiger products, accounting for nearly half of its annual business.

Although they are scarce, trade records indicate the import and export of tiger parts is substantial. The Zoological Society of London believes at least 1,900 kg of tiger bone were exported to Japan from Taiwan in 1990, an equivalent to 400-500 tigers.

According to South Korean immigration statistics, the country imported 3,994 kilograms (8787 pounds) of tiger bones from Indonesia between 1970 and 1993. The bones of one tiger weigh approximately 10 kilograms (22 pounds).

Due to increased demand, tiger bone prices have skyrocketed in South Korea, Taiwan and many other countries. The price is estimated to be between $140-$370 per kilogram (2.2 pounds) in U.S. dollars depending on the size of the bones.

In Taiwan, a bowl of tiger penis soup (to boost virility) goes for $320, and a pair of eyes (to fight epilepsy and malaria) for $170. Powdered tiger humerus bone (for treating ulcers rheumatism and typhoid) brings up to $1,450 lb. in Seoul.

Consuming tiger parts for medicinal purposes is not limited to Asia. A recent World Wildlife Fund investigation in England of Chinese chemists, craft shops and supermarkets in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool showed that half the shops sold products claiming to contain tiger bone.

The rising demand for tiger parts and rapid increase in price of tiger bone continues to be an irresistible incentive to poachers.

Who is Supplying the Demand?

Even though China has participated as a member in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, (CITES) since 1981, the laws are widely ignored and it remains the primary destination for Indian tiger parts. In 1995, in India alone, parts from 50 different tigers were discovered. Scientist suggest this number can be multiplied by a factor of five or six to reach the true figure.

Since China has almost eradicated its own tiger population it is now looking for a new supply of tigers from Bangladesh and Nepal. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that one-third of the breeding-age female tigers were lost between 1989 and 1991 in this area.

In Burma, hunting tigers is still legal. Burma, Lao PDR and Cambodia are not signatories to the CITES. Tigers in Vietnam and Malaysia continue to be hunted as well. One can buy tiger bones, skins or organs at Hanoi airport. Regardless of the extent to which the trade is policed, bits of tiger especially blood, eyeballs and genitals appear wherever there is demand.

Russia has also become a key supplier in the tiger trade due to political, economic and social instability. Poaching one tiger can bring in 10 years' income on the black market. It is estimated that in 1991, one-third of the Siberian or Amur tigers were killed to meet the demand for traditional Chinese medicines elsewhere.

Researchers and scientist believe poaching is alive and well despite many laws prohibiting the hunting and trade of endangered species.

How Much Does Tiger Poaching for Chinese Medicine Affect the Population?

A research project designed to model the effects of tiger poaching in Russia and India by John S. Kenney of Maine's Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has determined via computer modeling that even a small increase in poaching drastically increases the threat of the endangered tigers' extinction.

To make the model, the scientists used data collected for over 20 years on the survival rates and behavior of tigers in Nepal's Royal Chitwan National Park. In addition, they estimated that every normal-sized tiger group worldwide loses 5 to 10 of its 120 or so members to poaching each year. They then used the model to predict effects of different poaching patterns.

The model predicts, If poachers killed 10 of the animals in a tiger group every year for three years, the group would have less than a 20 percent chance of extinction in the 75 years after poaching stopped. Destroying 15 tigers a year for 3 years however, bumps the probability of extinction up to 50 percent. If poachers kill 15 tigers in a group each year for six years, or 10 animals for nine years, this will destroy the group.

If poaching continues at its current rate, researchers have predicted that many if not all the tiger clans will be wiped out in the near future.

Tiger populations can appear stable yet fail to withstand an unexpected disaster, such as bad weather, disease or reproductive problems. Add to this the devastating loses the populations suffer due to poaching and one can see that the challenges the endangered tiger faces will be extremely difficult to overcome in order to survive.

Have Efforts to Curb the Trade in Tiger Parts Worked?

Several Asian nations including China, Nepal, Japan, South Korea and Thailand have endorsed tough protections for tigers in the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The measures commit the countries to enact laws banning the trade of tiger derivatives, preserve tiger habitat, and form a regional network to halt tiger trade. But lack of government resolve and corruption at the highest levels have thwarted enforcement of other wildlife agreements that the nations have signed.

The popularity of tiger bones as a remedy for a multitude of ailments has produced a thriving black market, which is very difficult to monitor. Unlike a tiger skin, tiger bones can be crushed and made odorless and can be disguised as other types of bones. Tiger derivatives that are confiscated in raids by government officials are therefore believed to be just the tip of the iceberg.

The trade in tiger body parts is thought to have intensified as a result of a rapid increase in the demand for traditional Chinese medicine in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.

Despite the acceptance of new trade policies in China, it still remains a principle player in the demise of the tiger and other endangered species. Other countries such as Taiwan have stepped up enforcement efforts since coming under pressure from the United States in 1993-1994.

In Taiwan, a recent trade control law has resulted in raids and seizures, prosecutions, extensive searches of Chinese medicine stores, and customs surveillance and coordination with other relevant authorities. Hong Kong has also intensified its enforcement activities, following its 1994 trade control laws.

But, such policing efforts in Asian countries touch only a small percentage of Chinese medicine stores, and often owners get word of a "raid" in time to hide or disperse any tiger parts they may have in stock.

Because the demand for tiger products continues to grow, and poaching is still prominent in India, Russia and southeast Asia additional measures need to implemented to curb both the supple and the demand for endangered tiger parts

TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE

For more than 1,000 years the use of tiger parts has been included in the traditional Chinese medicine regimen. Because of the tiger's strength and mythical power, the Chinese culture believes that the tiger has medicinal qualities, which helps treat chronic ailments, cure disease and replenish the body's essential energy.

Endangered tiger parts such as bones, eyes, whiskers and teeth are used to treat ailments and disease ranging from insomnia and malaria, to meningitis and bad skin. Chinese texts state that the active ingredients in tiger bone; calcium and protein, which help promote healing, have anti-inflammatory properties.

Western medical experts tend to discount all claims of any curative power in tiger bone, as they do the rhinoceros horn, another popular Chinese medicine. And, it is well known that aspirin contains similar properties and produces the many of the same results as tiger prescriptions in patients.

Despite this, in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam and in Chinatowns across Europe and North America, Chinese medicine stores do a steady trade in tiger wines, powder, tiger balms and tiger pills. Many Asian communities believe that tiger bone, in powdered form or prepared as, "tiger wine," soothes rheumatic pain and cures ulcers, malaria and burns.

These derivatives make international trade and consumption possible in the wake of the, Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) treaty because they are not easily recognizable as tiger parts.

In recent years there has also been a resurgence of interest in traditional values and cures derived from nature in Chinese culture. Thus, the use of endangered tiger parts for medicinal properties is seen as a status symbol, a way to retain customs amid rapid change and as an alternative to the shortcomings of western medicine.

The Chinese culture believes that nearly all parts of the tiger can be used to derive some medicinal cure for any number of ailments. Here are some examples of how tiger parts and their derivatives are used in traditional Chinese medicine and causing the tiger to be a critically endangered species:

Tiger claws: used as a sedative for insomnia

Teeth: used to treat fever

Fat: used to treat leprosy and rheumatism

Nose leather: used to treat superficial wounds such as bites

Tiger bone: used as an anti-inflammatory drug to treat rheumatism and arthritis, general weakness, headaches, stiffness or paralysis in lower back and legs and dysentery

Eyeballs: used to treat epilepsy and malaria

Tail: used to treat skin diseases

Bile: used to treat convulsions in children associated with meningitis

Whiskers: used to treat toothaches

Brain: used to treat laziness and pimples

Penis: used in love potions such as tiger soup, as an aphrodisiac

Dung or feces: used to treat boils, hemorrhoids and cure alcoholism

Fortunately, there are viable natural alternatives for those seeking traditional Chinese medicines to treat ailments and disease without using tiger derivatives.

TIGERS IN CRISIS: POLITICS AND MONEY

For many years, Siberian tigers roamed throughout the forests of Korea and China, along the east coast of Russia, and into Siberia. Encountering humans only rarely, tigers had little to fear from them. However, in the late 19th century, Russian settlers poured into the Far East to build the eastern Chinese railway and, in the process, tried deliberately to eradicate tigers from the land.

According to a 1930s census, only 20 to 30 tigers survived the settlers' attempted extermination. In 1952, with few Siberian tigers left, Russia became the first country to ban the hunting of tigers. After gaining legal protection, the number of Siberian tigers grew to about 400, which is the estimate of thier status the wild today.

In the desperate economic times of the post-Soviet years, poaching has become a serious threat to the tigers' survival. As the countries of the former Soviet Republic undergo the grueling transition from a socialist system to a capital market and fledgling democracy, the salaries of working people cannot keep pace with the sky-rocketing costs of goods, leaving many people to live in poverty.

While the price of a loaf of bread rises from 16 kopeks to 20 rubles (more than 100 times as much), a tiger skin brings in 200,000 rubles-- four-years' salary for some people. And the market for other tiger parts used in traditional medicine offers additional money. Under these conditions, many believe that wildlife conservation is a luxury.

Meanwhile, the Russian government is selling off their old-growth forests--prime tiger habitat--to raise needed revenue. In order to find enough prey to hunt for nourishment, the female Siberian tiger roams 125-250 square miles of habitat, and male ranges extend to 500-620 square miles.

As the forests are reduced to smaller parcels, prey animals dwindle, and tigers fight to survive. Russian officials estimate that 40 percent of the Siberian tiger population may have been lost between 1990 and 1994.

Political Threats

In addition to Russia, the political and economic situation of other tiger-range countries have also contributed to the tiger's demise. In 1959, the Chinese government declared the South China tiger a pest, and encouraged its eradication. Although China joined CITES in 1981, the South China tiger doubtfully survives in the wild.

Unstable political conditions in Myanmar, home to the Indo-Chinese tiger, have frustrated wildlife research and management for decades. It still is not known how many tigers survive in Myanmar. Cambodia, also home to the Indo-Chinese tiger, has been racked by decades of war, further restricting protection of the Indo-Chinese tiger.

Biologists only recently have been granted limited permits for basic wildlife surveys. For economic and political reasons, Lao PDR, Vietnam, Bhutan and North Korea lack adequate tiger surveys as well.

Weak Governmental Laws and Enforcement

Many of the tiger-range countries' governments have established legal provisions to protect the endangered tiger. In addition, most tiger countries are members of CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species) which bans the trade of tiger parts (the exceptions are Burma, Lao PDR, and Cambodia). However, inadequate legal structures, political commitment, and financial resources severely limit domestic enforcement efforts.

Despite legislation banning hunting, the staffs employed to protect tigers in "protected areas" often are not legally empowered to enforce anti-hunting laws. For example, they may be restricted from searching for or confiscating hunting weapons, arresting or prosecuting poachers, or even carrying guns to protect the tigers -- as well as themselves -- from poachers.

Furthermore, anti-hunting laws that protect tigers do not protect tiger prey, leaving tigers in vital tiger habitat without food. Nor do they protect endangered tiger populations that exist or stray outside protected areas, or roam across country borders.

Poor Economies

Forestry and wildlife departments are too understaffed and under-budgeted to save the endangered tiger from poachers. Lacking funds, organization, compensation for high-risk work, recognition, training, motivation, camps inside the protected areas, night patrols, and resources such as firearms, vehicles and communication equipment, the guards' efforts to enforce of anti-hunting laws are ineffective.

Poor standards of living also leave some officials vulnerable to corruption. The tigers' increasing scarcity and Asia's booming economies drive the price of tiger parts up, offering great incentive to poachers who bribe some governmental officials to turn the other cheek.

Improved national legislation and international support, when combined with the promotion of alternatives to traditional Chinese remedies and habitat protection, are a vital part of the strategy to save the tiger from being an endangered species, or from becoming extinct.

TIGERS IN CRISIS: THE SOLUTIONS

Most conservationists agree that strong protection of wildlife reserves has been the key to the endangered tiger's survival so far.

It is vital, however, that wildlife conservation and habitat protection are not isolated solutions, but an important part of a multifaceted tiger survival strategy.

Habitat loss is only one of several significant threats to the endangered tiger's survival. As long as the demand and market for tiger parts in traditional Chinese medicine thrive, lives of tigers will be threatened.

Economic and political circumstances within many of the tiger countries also require serious attention and international support.

HABITAT PROTECTION FOR TIGERS

Most conservationists agree that strong protection of wildlife reserves has been the key to the endangered tiger's survival so far. It is vital, however, that wildlife conservation and habitat protection are not isolated solutions, but an important part of a multifaceted tiger survival strategy.

Habitat loss is only one of several significant threats to the endangered tiger's survival. As long as the demand and market for tiger parts in traditional Chinese medicine thrive, lives of tigers will be threatened. Economic and political circumstances within many of the tiger countries also require serious attention and international support.

History

The first ecological study of tigers in the wild, conducted in the mid-1960s, shocked those already suspicious about the tiger's endangered conditions with numbers that pushed the tiger to the brink of extinction.

In 1969, the General Assembly of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) proposed a resolution calling for international efforts to save the tiger. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) responded in 1972 with Operation Tiger, a global program to fund conservation efforts for the tiger in the Indian subcontinent, Indochina, and Indonesia.

During the 1970s, with the pressure and financial support of WWF's Operation Tiger campaign, many countries, including Indonesia, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Thailand, established stronger wildlife protection laws (including laws banning the hunting of tigers) and created new protection areas.

India responded most rapidly with the formation of Tiger Task Force followed in 1973 by Project Tiger, which established India's first tiger reserves and financial support from the Indian government for habitat conservation and tiger protection. The governments of all tiger-range countries have established protected areas or national reserves. Commitments to adequately fund and protect these wildlife reserves vary greatly from country to country.

Since the 1980s, the success of the wildlife reserves has been increasingly and drastically undermined by conflicts between "protected" tigers and both individual poachers and the needs of surrounding communities. Responding to the renewed need for intensive tiger conservation efforts beyond the national level, in 1993 members of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Cat Specialist Group and other world tiger experts endorsed a declaration that led to the formation of the Global Tiger Forum of Range States.

The forum works to bring together representatives from the 14 remaining tiger range-countries to develop regional strategies to save the tiger. In 1994, representatives from all the tiger-range countries attended the forum, except Lao PDR, China, and North Korea. Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Vietnam met and developed their regional conservation strategy in 1995.

Today, international conservation groups are working hard to save the tiger from extinction, but the prospect of losing the last of the world's wild tigers within the next five years continues to loom. Combined with vital efforts to reduce the demand for tiger parts and strengthen protected-area laws, wildlife conservation and protection remains at the heart of the strategy to save the tiger in the wild.

Strategy

Identify and monitor high priority tiger populations on which immediate conservation efforts should be focused. To survive in the wild, tigers need large areas of habitat with sufficient water to drink, animals to eat, and vegetative cover for hunting. Optimal tiger habitat includes a core area of at least 1,000 square kilometers that is free from most human activities.

Smaller areas are more limited in prey and are less likely to ensure the future stability of the tiger population. Scientists can locate key tiger populations by surveying habitats that meet the long-term ecological requirements of tigers. Specialists must also improve research methods of gathering vital information on tiger behavior and ecology for the development of long-term solutions.

Manage key tiger habitat for the protection of tigers. On-the-ground protection is essential to protect tigers from poachers seeking tiger parts for the lucrative market in traditional Chinese medicine. Enforcement officers, park guards and staff need to be hired, funded, organized, trained, equipped and legally empowered to protect the tiger from illegal hunters, day and night.

Develop community-based sustainable development and conservation programs. In most situations, the participation and collective action of individual rural households, whose livelihoods depend on use of the forests where tigers live, is essential to sustain an effective tiger conservation strategy. Local institutions, government departments, non-governmental organizations, conservation groups and banks can work with communities to develop local economic enterprises that depend on alternative resources.

"Eco-development" (ecologically-sensitive development) must be combined with educational conservation programs that inform, empower and inspire local communities to participate in the protection of the tiger. It is also important to educate consumers around the world that conservation efforts at home help reduce the demand for natural resources abroad.

Captive Breeding

Animal specialists at zoos all around the world are paying special attention to animals from endangered species. Working with conservation groups, tiger specialists are researching tiger nutrition, health, and reproduction and zoo facilities and management so that zoo tigers will breed future generations of healthy cubs.

Conservation Breeding Specialist Groups and zoos are cooperating internationally in captive-breeding programs such as GASP (Global Animal Survival Plan). Some captive-bred tigers have been released into the wild. Although these programs do not prevent habitat encroachment, captive breeding is important for maintaining a reservoir of genetic material on tigers.

Zoos provide insurance against such long-term threats as genetic deterioration that could affect the small populations of tigers left in fragmented reserves.

Participate in the solution. Your awareness and support is a vital part of the effort to save the wild tiger from extinction. Wildlife conservation groups and tiger specialists are working hard to preserve and protect tiger habitat, but their efforts will fail without adequate resources. It is very expensive to monitor reserves and enforce anti-poaching laws.

For example, it would cost approximately $15 million a year to adequately protect the tigers in India's reserves. It is imperative that we protect the tiger: it will not survive on its own.

ALTERNATIVE TRADITIONAL MEDICINES

There are close to 11,000 natural, traditional Chinese medicines that can be used to treat ailments and disease. Because the tiger is now in serious danger of becoming extinct, alternatives must be found and readily accepted by those who wish to remain devoted to the philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine.

Tiger claws- used as a sedative for insomnia; Alternatives - Acupuncture is often used very effectively in the treatment of insomnia caused by depression and related emotional problems. Herbs regularly used in treatment include: coptis root, fleece-flower stem, poria, and wild jujube seed.

Teeth - used to treat fever; Alternative - Herbs that can be effectively used include: anemarrhena rhizome and bamboo leaves.

Fat - used to treat leprosy and rheumatism; Alternative - Herbs that are effective in treatment include: Corktree bark, achyranthus root and coix lachryma joba.

Nose Leather - used to treat superficial wounds such as bites; Alternative - Herbs that can be effectively used in treatment include: astragalus root, dipsacus root or teasel root.

Tiger Bone - used to treat rheumatism, arthritis, general weakness, headaches, stiffness or paralysis primarily in lower back and legs and dysentery; Alternative - Herbs used to treat rheumatism and weakness include: Corktree bark, achyranthus root, ledebouriella root and coix lachryma joba. Treatments of headaches: spring onion tea, wild ginger or wild angelica, ginseng, poria, and Chinese date or schizonepeta. Acupuncture is also often effective in alleviating migraine headaches. For dysentery: anemone, white peony root, skullcap root and golden thread have been proven effective.

Eyeballs - used to treat epilepsy and malaria; Alternative - For epilepsy, herbs such as sweet flag root, Chinese senegar root, bamboo shavings or bamboo juice from young shoots can be used. For malaria, sweet wormwood and artemesia are effective.

Tail - used to treat skin diseases; Alternative - Acupuncture has be found effective in treating skin disorders.

Bile - used to treat convulsions/meningitis in children; Alternative - An herbal mixture named "White Tiger Decoction," made of gypsum and rice.

Whiskers - used to treat toothache; Alternative - Herb treatments include: gypsum, acupuncture, ginseng or chrysanthemum flowers.

Brain - used to treat laziness and pimples; Alternative - For pimple treatment: cleanse skin with a slice of fresh watermelon. Drink herbal tea made of honeysuckle, chrysanthemum of dandelion. For more severe cases use skullcap, rhubarb, gypsum and rehmannia.

Penis - used in love potions, aphrodisiac; This is a myth. The tiger is seen as a powerful entity in ancient tradition and culture, but there is no pharmacological evidence to suggest any tiger part is an aphrodisiac.

Dung or feces - used to treat boils, hemorrhoids and alcoholism; Alternative - For boils: treat as a skin disorder. For hemorrhoids: angelica, rhubarb, dandelion, magnolia bark and kapok flower are effective. For alcoholism: green tea, kudzu vine or watermelon can be used to detoxify the blood.

LAWS AND SUPPORT FOR TIGERS IN CRISIS

LAWS AND SUPPORT FOR TIGERS IN CRISIS

The political and economic problems that impact the ability of the endangered tiger to survive are large and complex. It is difficult to provide immediate solutions to war, poverty, corruption, and the global pressure on forest resources.

Legally forcing relatively poor communities to choose between their own livelihood and the survival of the tiger is not a sustainable solution.

To be effective, laws established to protect the endangered tiger need to be reinforced by public education that effectively illustrates the serious case of extinction and the importance of conservation. In addition, economic resources are needed to support currently under-funded enforcement efforts, as well as community-based programs on sustainable development.

To save the tiger from the wire snares of poachers, enforcement of national laws and international policies must be strengthened. However, as long as the demand and market for traditional Chinese medicine thrive, highly profitable kills will provide incentive to risk breaking laws.

For this reason, in addition to laws banning the sale and trade of tiger parts, medicinal alternatives containing no tiger parts need to be developed and well publicized. When combined with efforts to protect tiger habitat, these actions can help reduce the economic and political circumstances that continue to undermine attempts to save the tiger.

Strategy

Strengthen legal structures and enforcement of tiger protection laws. Wildlife experts must continue to work with national governments and international forums to initiate and strengthen local anti-hunting laws and global policies, such as CITES. In addition, on-the-ground protected-area guards and staffs must be legally empowered and adequately equipped to enforce such laws and help save this endangered species.

International governmental and non-governmental organizations can coordinate policies and targeted economic sanctions to pressure tiger-range governments to increase their political commitment to endangered tiger protection.

Develop long-term political and economic incentives. Conservation groups and governmental organizations are working with community-based groups and rural households to develop political and economic incentives to support and participate in conservation programs.

In order to reduce the number of endangered tigers killed by people who, lured by money, risk breaking protective laws, educational and conservation programs must address the economic needs and attitudes of poor communities.

Increase participation in international forums. International wildlife conservation groups must strongly encourage tiger-range countries, particularly those which share common borders and/or tiger populations, to cooperate and coordinate their wildlife conservation and protection efforts.

To begin, they can participate in international forums such as the Global Tiger Forum and the Transboundary Biodiversity Conferences.

Galvanize international financial support for vital conservation projects that are not adequately funded by the politically or economically unstable, tiger-range countries.

Wildlife conservation groups are actively working to reduce the economic and political impacts that threaten the lives of tigers. We must increase these efforts immediately if we are to save the tiger from extinction.

Animal experts are beginning to obtain field permits to survey and monitor tigers in politically and economically unstable countries, and continue to work with governments to preserve key tiger habitat and establish protective reserves.

On both the local and international level, governmental and conservation groups are trying to raise funds to support the staff, budget, and equipment needed to adequately protect tigers from poachers; educate communities about conservation and ecologically sustainable development; and coordinate regional forums and global species survival plans.

Your financial and professional support for these efforts is vital if we are to save the wild tiger before the very last one is -- gone.