Endangered Tigers and Their Status in the United States (Research Paper Sample)

ENDANGERED TIGERS AND THEIR STATUS IN THE UNITED STATES
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PART 1
Introduction
Tiger (Panthera tigris) are in a dangerous state, with their population having dropped by over 95% over the past century to reach to a surprising low of less than 3200 wild individuals. This decline has been linked to several factors with the major one being human activities. The major human factor responsible for the decrease of tiger population is poaching, where they kill the animal for its skin, bones, as well as other parts perceived to be of high value such as medicinal, status symbol, and monetary. Other indirect factors include decline in its prey because of poaching and other natural factors, destroying its habitant, and environmental factors. There are ten sub-species of tiger among which three were declared extinct. The remaining species have been declared indigenous. As a result, several legal measures and policies have been passed by different agencies and organizations in different countries to help reduce or cease extinction of the biggest cat. In USA, the number of tigers in captivated by the people is approximately 5000, which exceeds the number of wild tigers. Therefore, this paper focuses on some background information about tigers and their status, problems that are causing its endangerment, analysis of the current laws about tigers, in terms of their reliability in the U.S. The paper also proposes possible amendments on the existing laws that would help solve the problem of mistreatment of tigers in the U.S. and around the world.
PART II
Background
The tiger is the largest of the seven species in Panthera lineage weighing an average of 325 Kgs. The other species in Panthera genus are lion, jaguar, leopard, jaguar, snow leopard, clouded leopard, and sunda clouded leopard. The species in Panthera genus evolved from Asia, and is estimated that the seven cats diverged from the Felinae family between 6 and 10 million years ago. The number of people keeping the big cats in their homes is increasing because of their attractive skin and for status symbol.
Tigers rely on sound and sight rather than smell, notably during hunting, which they do solely. An average adult tiger can consume over 88 pounds of raw meat at one time. The biggest cat can give birth to two or three young ones every two years. The cubs gain independence after two years and reach sexual maturity at the age of approximately three years for females and four years for males. The mortality rate of cubs is high, in which majority of young ones below two years hardly survive. A tiger can survive up to 26 years in the wild. Tiger are mainly solitary, except for the mother offspring relationship. They like establishing a territory, which is determined by three factors; availability of prey, presence of cover, and water availability. Tiger are carnivorous and therefore rely exclusively on their hunting techniques for survival. Subsequently, the presence of cover is essential for the tiger’s hunting skills and survival. India is one of the largest habitants of tiger because of the presence of natural cover suitable for tigers. Additionally, tigers prefer dense and mountainous forests because they can easily see and stalk a prey. They frequently visit the territories marking the boundaries with faeces and urine. Another important factor in tiger’s habitat is water, and that is why they also prefer swampy mangrove, and tropical forests.
As earlier stated, there are five species of tiger in existent today which are Bengal, Amur, Indochinese, Sumatran, and Malayan. The java, Bali, and the south china tiger became extinct in the 20th century. The Balinese tiger was the first species to become extinct in 1937. The species comprised of small tigers that mostly inhabited the Bali Island in the Indian Ocean. The primary cause of its extinction was extensive hunting. The second species to become extinct was the Caspian tiger, and it occurred between years 1950 and 1960. The Caspian tigers were bigger than the Bali tigers, and the main causes of their extinction was sport hunting and destruction of habitat. The most recent extinction among the tigers occurred between 1980 and 1990 to the Javan species, which predominantly inhabited the Island of Java. The dominant causes of this extinction were also destruction of habitat and hunting. As a result of these extinctions and a continued decline in the number of tigers, the Union for Conservation of Nature classified tigers at category 4 of the 7 seven categories of organisms. The categories range from category 1 to 7. Category 1 comprise of organisms of least concern rising up to category 7 that comprises organisms that are extinct. Consequently, category 4, in which the tiger is placed, comprises of endangered species, that is, animals in a high risk of becoming extinct over time. Tiger is in the same category with blue whale, gorillas, and Asian elephant.
As mentioned the major causes of tiger endangerment are direct or indirect human activities. The direct cause includes the direct killing the tiger for its perceived valuable parts such as skin, and human-tiger conflicts. While the indirect causes include hunting and killing its prey, destruction of its habitat, and genetic inbreeding. The tiger has become extinct because its splendid striped skin had a high demand for wall hangings, rugs, and fur coats. Demand in these parts have led to an increase in poaching, which led to death of many tigers. However, the demand for the skin has declined because of the trade ban on animal skin. Today’s target is on its bones and other parts that are used to make pseudo-medicines in Asian countries particularly China, South Korea, and Taiwan. The Chinese authorities disclosed that in 1991, the country exported 15 079 cartons of tablets, 31500 bottles of wine, and 5250 litres of liquid medicine made from tiger bones. The exports were channelled mainly in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and other parts of the world with Chinese communities including Australia, USA, and Europe. The Convention on International Trade Endangered Species (CITES) with the support of many countries, made the trade of tiger parts illegal and set consequences for those caught indulging in the trade, but still cross border trafficking of tiger parts occur.
Another factor responsible for the endangerment of the tiger is the loss of habitat, which is mostly linked to the growing population of human. The tigers are currently concentrated in countries where human population is increasing tremendously. The tigers are mostly found in Asia in countries such as India, Vietnam, China, Thailand, Bangladesh, among others. The population is estimated to be increasing at an average rate of 1.87% in Asian countries inhabited by tigers. Between 1973, when the first campaign against tiger poaching began and year 2000, the Indian population had increased by approximately 300 million and the livestock have increased by over 100 million. The Vietnamese population doubled 30 years after the campaign. Making it one of the most populated countries. The increasing population starts looking for new habitats, mostly forests, to reduce the congestion. The result of this settlement in forests is increased pressure to the animals, which causes them to migrate to unsuitable ecosystems where they die or change the physiological pattern of their body functions. Additionally, the people and the tigers build conflicts because tigers are forced to hunt the livestock, which most people depend on. In response, the people kill or capture them and sell them to black markets.
Apart from the human activities, the environmental factors also threaten the tiger’s habitat. Sundarbans, a big mangrove forest that is shared by Bangladesh and India, is the largest tiger habitat in the world. This forest accommodates the Bengal tigers and protects the coastal area from wind damage and storm surges. Conversely, over the recent years the region has experienced rising sea level as a result of climate change, which threatens to wipe the forest and the population of the biggest cat. It has been projected that the sea would have risen by 1 foot by 2070, which WWF stated that if suitable mitigation measures are not instituted, the sea rise may destroy almost the entire tiger population in Sundarbans.
Additionally, hunting and killing tiger’s prey has led to its endangerment. Some people rely on animals for food. Most of the animals that make the tiger’s food become the food of humans and other carnivores. The result is a reduction and limitation in number of tiger’s prey, which leads to its starvation and death. As a result of destruction of ecosystem by humans, almost all the animals are forced to inhabit the same area, hence increasing pressure among them due to competition of prey. For instance, other carnivorous animals are mingled with the tigers, accelerating the decrease in prey because of increased predators. This finishes the prey over time, and causes a decrease in tigers.
The other factor is gene inbreeding, which refers to the process where the animals are forcibly concentrated on one habitat constraining the animal to have limited mates. This leads to lesser genetic diversity, which in turn increases the threat of damaging alleles amassing in the gene make-up, which lowers the general survival rate and fitness of the subsequent species. A good example is the frequent cases of birth of tigers with defects such as crossed eyes or severe strabismus in white captive tigers, which started as a result of breeding an albino Bengal tiger with its female offspring.
Many countries, particularly those in which tigers are found, have instituted legal measures to prevent trade or sale of tiger products, but the enforcement of these laws is poor such that the poacher...