- A three-day conference opens Wednesday in Thailand, hosting officials from 13 Asian countries in hopes of figuring out ways to protect the region’s dwindling tiger population.
The Year of the Tiger officially begins Feb. 14, according to the Chinese lunar calendar, but it’s already under way for conservationists trying to save the big cats from extinction.
A three-day conference opens Wednesday in Thailand, hosting officials from 13 Asian countries in hopes of figuring out ways to protect the region’s dwindling tiger population. Wild tigers are dying out virtually everywhere they still live, but the crisis is worst in Southeast Asia, says the WWF, largely because tiger bones are in high demand for Chinese medicine and because deforestation is whittling away their habitat. The region’s tiger population has fallen from 1,200 in 1998 to about 350 today, and conservationists say governments must step in and do something.
Many are in an uproar over a new plan proposed by Indonesia: renting out tigers to millionaires. The country only has 400 Sumatran tigers left, and says rentable tigers could curb illegal hunting and trade in the endangered animals. “There are many orders from rich people who want them, who feel if they own a tiger they are a big shot,” explains one Indonesian official. “We have to take concrete steps to protect these animals.” Tiger rentals would cost $107,000, and would include three monthly checkups by vets and other officials, but critics say it’s just a distraction. “It shows the government is not serious about addressing the real issues threatening Sumatran tigers,” says a Greenpeace forest campaigner. “They need to stop issuing forest concessions [to logging companies].”
Sources: Agence France-Presse, MSNBC
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