After a long time I say hi to this blog and to all my friends who are in a good habit of following this blog. Now, I know that this article is not associated with NLIU and I know it even better that it is but for this reason that this blog post may be removed in a couple of days or even earlier, but since I had to convey something to my batch mates, I couldn't find a better medium of communication than this.
Now, I finally begin with what I had to say. Those of you, who are big TV buffs like me, must have observed the advertisements of the Save Tiger Campaign by Aircel. I watched it too, first because they have hunks like Dhoni and Baichung Bhutia in their ad (you can't help but notice them first) but then I was moved by the message it conveyed "Just 1,411 tigers are left in India, will we let our National Animal disappear?" The first image that came to my mind after this was a photograph that I saw in class 9th in my social studies textbook, it displayed almost 30 tigers dead in front of an English police officer, who stood loftily displaying his 4 feet 5 inches long gun with a dozen Indian 'helpers' standing behind him. Sorry for over-reaction but I seriously felt like taking away the Englishman's Gun and shooting him and then posing in the same way in front of his dead body as he did before the tigers.
The reason for tigers being our national animal is that a tiger is a perfect example of beauty, glory, royalty, richness and pride. Other reason is that once upon a time it was found in abundance in our country and it still is in the maximum number in our country. Statistics reveal that currently there are 3200 tigers in the whole world; while a century ago, this number was over hundred thousands. 160 countries over the globe prohibit the sale of tiger's body parts.
In India, National parks like Corbett, Dudhwa, Kaziranga, Kanha and Bandipur contain maximum tiger population. However, increasing human population and illegal trade are the main reasons for tigers being killed here. According to a research by WWF, increase in sea level is also a reason for tiger extinction in countries like Bangladesh. The world famous area for tigers, the Sunderbans have encountered a 96% decrease in the number of tigers. In Russia, ruthless deforestation is giving rise to tiger extinction while in China, the heavy demand for tiger's body parts is a reason for tigers being killed. The situation can be understood by the fact that there are only 50 wild tigers left in China. Vietnam too faces the same holdup. United States has more tigers encaged than in forests, Texas having the maximum number of encaged tigers. Europe exports almost 5.8 tons of palm oil per year, which leads to a vast chopping down of rainforests, a home for tigers in Europe. Nepal has the maximum cross roads over the world, which is responsible for the smuggling of tiger parts.
The main reason for tigers being killed at this large pace is the medicinal value of its body parts. According to the Wild Life Trade Tracks Expert in East Asia, Dr. Priscila Geo, Chinese people believe that medicines made of tiger's bones have magical effect on orthopedic ailments. However, the sale of tiger skin, bones and other parts is prohibited in China since 1993 but still the trade silently continues. The Director of World Bank's Tiger Initiative Project Mr. Keshav Sharma says that over a last few years, the Middle class has grown substantially in China which has resulted into an increasing demand not only for medicine and wine but also for ornamental gifts, hence resulting into more and more killing of tigers.
However, measures are being taken for increasing tiger population around the world. Chinese Scientists have recently proclaimed that they can develop approximately 600 tigers a year by genetic engineering but these tigers will face problems of adjusting with climatic conditions. There is a lot of dispute worldwide regarding this matter as wildlife activists say no to this idea. Asian countries have agreed to contribute largely in the number of tigers and make their number increase substantially till 2022.
Let's hope that this majestic and beautiful animal survives even more on this earth and remain an icon for our country with its inspiring natural characteristics that make it our national animal. Let's hope that we never encounter a day when a tiger deprived of its natural habitat will enter our university campus. Bhopalis must be knowing that there are some real tigers in Kerwa Forests too!
Now, I finally begin with what I had to say. Those of you, who are big TV buffs like me, must have observed the advertisements of the Save Tiger Campaign by Aircel. I watched it too, first because they have hunks like Dhoni and Baichung Bhutia in their ad (you can't help but notice them first) but then I was moved by the message it conveyed "Just 1,411 tigers are left in India, will we let our National Animal disappear?" The first image that came to my mind after this was a photograph that I saw in class 9th in my social studies textbook, it displayed almost 30 tigers dead in front of an English police officer, who stood loftily displaying his 4 feet 5 inches long gun with a dozen Indian 'helpers' standing behind him. Sorry for over-reaction but I seriously felt like taking away the Englishman's Gun and shooting him and then posing in the same way in front of his dead body as he did before the tigers.
The reason for tigers being our national animal is that a tiger is a perfect example of beauty, glory, royalty, richness and pride. Other reason is that once upon a time it was found in abundance in our country and it still is in the maximum number in our country. Statistics reveal that currently there are 3200 tigers in the whole world; while a century ago, this number was over hundred thousands. 160 countries over the globe prohibit the sale of tiger's body parts.
In India, National parks like Corbett, Dudhwa, Kaziranga, Kanha and Bandipur contain maximum tiger population. However, increasing human population and illegal trade are the main reasons for tigers being killed here. According to a research by WWF, increase in sea level is also a reason for tiger extinction in countries like Bangladesh. The world famous area for tigers, the Sunderbans have encountered a 96% decrease in the number of tigers. In Russia, ruthless deforestation is giving rise to tiger extinction while in China, the heavy demand for tiger's body parts is a reason for tigers being killed. The situation can be understood by the fact that there are only 50 wild tigers left in China. Vietnam too faces the same holdup. United States has more tigers encaged than in forests, Texas having the maximum number of encaged tigers. Europe exports almost 5.8 tons of palm oil per year, which leads to a vast chopping down of rainforests, a home for tigers in Europe. Nepal has the maximum cross roads over the world, which is responsible for the smuggling of tiger parts.
The main reason for tigers being killed at this large pace is the medicinal value of its body parts. According to the Wild Life Trade Tracks Expert in East Asia, Dr. Priscila Geo, Chinese people believe that medicines made of tiger's bones have magical effect on orthopedic ailments. However, the sale of tiger skin, bones and other parts is prohibited in China since 1993 but still the trade silently continues. The Director of World Bank's Tiger Initiative Project Mr. Keshav Sharma says that over a last few years, the Middle class has grown substantially in China which has resulted into an increasing demand not only for medicine and wine but also for ornamental gifts, hence resulting into more and more killing of tigers.
However, measures are being taken for increasing tiger population around the world. Chinese Scientists have recently proclaimed that they can develop approximately 600 tigers a year by genetic engineering but these tigers will face problems of adjusting with climatic conditions. There is a lot of dispute worldwide regarding this matter as wildlife activists say no to this idea. Asian countries have agreed to contribute largely in the number of tigers and make their number increase substantially till 2022.
Let's hope that this majestic and beautiful animal survives even more on this earth and remain an icon for our country with its inspiring natural characteristics that make it our national animal. Let's hope that we never encounter a day when a tiger deprived of its natural habitat will enter our university campus. Bhopalis must be knowing that there are some real tigers in Kerwa Forests too!
-Durva
thought provoking piece it is girl.....
ReplyDelete-Anubha
cut copy paste of wat anubha said...
ReplyDeletethe problem is that these thngs remain a matter of concern only for a few days and then disappear faster than 3*10^8 m/s
shejal
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOkzz.......
ReplyDeleteU know what? I'm also feeling somewhat motivated, nd I will surely try to do something in this matter....
....Suvid
good job girl....
ReplyDelete