Taming Threats to the World's Largest Cats
Ten feet long and weighing up to 600 pounds, Siberian tigers (also known as Amur Tigers) are the largest and one of the most critically endangered wild cats. Siberian tigers live in the cold climates of Russia and northern China. They endure long winters with eight months of snow and temperatures that fall to negative 4 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s colder than your freezer! Layers of body fat serve as thermal underwear. Shaggy manes and thick coats of fur keep out the chill. Extra hair on their paws acts as tiger snow boots. These cold-weather cats have amazing adaptations to survive a brutal environment.
ALMOST EXTINCT
During the early-1900s, Siberian tigers teetered on the edge of extinction. Habitat destruction from logging, a shrinking food supply, and hunting just about took down the world’s biggest cat. By the 1940s, only 40 Siberian tigers were left in the wild, according to BBC Earth. In response, the Soviet Union, now known as Russia, banned Siberian tiger hunting in 1947 and limited hunting of the tiger’s favorite foods like boar and deer. By the 1960s, the tiger population in Russia rebounded from 40 tigers to over 100.
But Siberian tigers are not the only tigers at risk. Bali and Caspian tigers: extinct. Sumatran and South China tigers: critically endangered. Bengal tigers: endangered. Like the Siberian tigers of the north, tigers across Asia have fallen victim to poaching due to the rising demand for tiger parts — noses, bones, organs, teeth, and pelts.
HEALTH AND WEALTH DOOM TIGERS
For thousands of years, traditional Chinese medicine has depended on tiger parts from across Asia to treat illnesses: people believed noses treated epilepsy, tiger bones healed ulcers, tiger tails cured skin diseases, and tiger whiskers soothed toothaches. In China, tigers symbolize strength and power, and people believed they could take on some of the tiger’s strength by using treatments made from their parts.
Throughout Asia, owning tiger products showcases wealth and status. Business people give tiger pelts as gifts when sealing a deal, and the wealthy decorate their homes with tiger pelts. Think of displaying a skinned tiger like flaunting a fancy sports car. The rich drink tiger bone wine, which sells for hundreds of dollars per bottle. Some believe that drinking this wine gives tiger-like strength and power.
As poaching of Asia’s tigers got out of control, CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) banned the trade of tiger parts in 1987. But CITES relied on Asian countries to enforce the ban. They urged countries to punish poachers and to create laws that controlled the trade of tiger parts. Countries took little action, and little changed for tigers. Well, except for one change. National and international bans on poaching gave birth to a whole new industry — tiger farming.
FARM-RAISED TIGERS
The first tiger farm was founded in Russia in 1986. After that, hundreds of tiger farms popped up across China, Southeast Asia, and even South Africa. Worldwide, tiger farms keep nearly 8,000 tigers in captivity, more than double the population of tigers in the wild, according to National Geographic.
On these farms, tigers — who are used to roaming hundreds of miles — stay locked in small cages. Female tigers speed breed, having tiger cubs as fast as possible. In the wild, a tiger cub stays with its mother until it is two years old. On tiger farms, cubs are taken from their mothers soon after birth so that the female can give birth to another litter. Many tiger farms operate as zoos where tourists pay to pet tigers or feed tiger cubs bottles. Although snuggling a tiger cub sounds irresistible, tourists’ money fuels tigers’ captivity. According to National Geographic, in 2016, the Thailand government raided the Tiger Temple, a zoo that doubled as a tiger farm. Officials seized 137 adult tigers; found glass jars full of tiger bones, organs, and teeth ready to be sold; and uncovered 40 dead tiger cubs.
Sadly, tiger farms have increased the demand for tiger parts and, in turn, increased poaching of wild tigers. Some people believe that wild tigers are more powerful than farmed tigers and are willing to pay poachers top dollar for wild tiger parts.
PROMISING PROTECTIONS FOR TIGERS
China, the number one consumer of tiger-based products, took action and banned the international trade of tiger parts in 1993. Chinese scientists and doctors removed tiger ingredients from their lists of drugs used to treat illnesses. And in 2010, the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies announced that treatments made from tiger parts had no medical benefits. Tiger whiskers do not actually cure toothaches. Throughout the 1990s, the Chinese government led public campaigns to discourage the use of tiger parts and reinforce that they did not cure diseases.
In 2010, thirteen countries and conservation organizations set a goal—double the number of wild tigers by 2020. At that time, an estimated 3,200 tigers lived across thirteen Asian countries. Although countries did not reach this ambitious goal, the future looks hopeful for tigers. Today, the worldwide population has increased to 3,900, reports World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
As for Siberian tigers, their population has grown 15% since 2010 due to Russia protecting and restoring the tigers’ habitat. Once almost extinct, today, conservationists estimate about 540 Siberian tigers roam the frigid north, according to BBC.