Tiger population dwindles to 1,400 in India / and relevance to orangutans

So much for WWF's etc. Save the Tiger campaign. Sadly, I predict their Save the Orangutan campaign will go the same way. But by that time those responsible for extracting vast sums of money out of the public and corporations will have changed jobs or retired on nice fat pensions….as probably happened during their multi-million pound tiger campaign …….which continues to this day.

Not that WWF was the only NGO group soliciting funds for tigers. Scarily, to me at least, there was/is a similar number of likeminded groups claiming to save the tigers - as there are with orangutans. Hmmmnn. My guess is it won't be too long before we see the orangutan population revised downwards (again), which in my mind would raise the question, 'where are all the millions of dollars/pounds raised each year by the very large multi-national NGOs like WWF being spent and even more importantly, what are these vast sums of money REALLY achieving - for orangutan conservation?'


The Times of India

Tiger population dwindles to 1,400 in India
5 Oct 2008,

UDHAGAMANDALAM (TAMIL NADU): Tiger population in 30 Tiger reserves in the country have dwindled to 1,411 at present from the 1,800 in 1972, according to statistics.

The country had 40,000 tigers in 1900, statistics released by CPR Environmental Education Centre (CPREEC), which is organising an exhibition titled "Tiger Tiger", on Sunday said.

"The habitats have been lost due to severe deforestation, contributing to the dwindling tiger numbers," it said. Non-forestry activities, fragmentation of forest patches were the major causes for the dwindling tiger population, it said. The exhibition sought to raise awareness about the need to save the tiger. "This would also provide a complete overview of the National animal -- its evolution, behaviour, social structure, cultural role, ecological significance, human impact upon it and what should be done to conserve it," it said. The CPREEC is a Centre of Excellence of the Ministry of Environment and Forests established jointly by the Ministry and CP Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation.