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Animal News: Battling India's Illegal Tiger Trade
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© 2014 National Geographic
Battling India's Illegal Tiger Trade
Feb. 12, 2014—The overwhelming demand for tiger parts on the Asian market means India's tigers face constant peril from poachers. Conservationist Belinda Wright and her team at the Wildlife Protection Society of India are working to save tigers by helping enforcement authorities track down and arrest suspected poachers.
HI everybody, I was wandering if you can send a man in the moon and a probe to outerspace, is it true you cant protect these wonderful animals. It is question of will not ability. And we all must show our respect to those who deserves it and disrespect to those who are responsible for trade going on.
I truly appreciate for what you are doing for the tigers illegal trade back in my country..Thank you.
Il n'y a pas un endroit sur la terre ou il n'y a pas de violence sur des animaux ou de meurtres gratuits envers ceux-ci... quelques soit l'endroit, il y manque une chose des plus importantes...l'éducation en bas âge;apprendre aux enfants combien les animaux sont merveilleux et leurs apprendre comment leurs apporter les soins nécessaires.Puis par eux même ces enfants verront comment ces animaux ont de la compassions pour leurs proches...celle que les humains doivent acquérir et qui leur font défaut par manque monétaires et d'instructions...Oui il doit y avoir des peines avec des sentences éducatives mises en place.
Bravo Miss Wright God bless you!
I don't know why their is a lot of people don't care about animals...I just can't imagine life without them!! I love all the creatures on this planet ...animals is like angel for me! Sorry for my bad english...:)
Respect Belinda Wright!
If wealthy Chinese men seriously think that by eating tiger body parts (that have been acquired illegally) they will have an improved sexual function and stamina along with an increased longevity then perhaps their own lives would be threatened as men would want to kill and devour them for an even greater effect.
Education, Education & Education... It's the only Cure... Stop blaming each other... Educate the children...
poachers are traitors of the nature
I noticed that the so-called tiger hunters are scrapes of humans.
They the killers, appear to be below any intelligence...not their fault poor people
But China and India must put the power of life 'n death of humans in the hands of people who can eliminate these god-awfuls.
I say shoot first...
Gene T.
Well said Gene.
So many us are truly uneducated that it worries me to no end. Let's trade one billion nationals for one tiger. A completely excellent trade.
This is all so sad must be money again?? How do you stop I wonder - go well Wildlife Protection Society
What a petty, such an straordinary creature, that is the price for being so greedy
China is the ultimate source of India's tiger poaching problems? By that logic, the drug culture in the US is chiefly responsible for the drug trade violence in South America and elsewhere in the world. If you think that the answer to saving the tigers is to attack the Chinese, then you should have no problem believing that American consumers must be punished for a host of ills their resource-draining lifestyle has created for less fortunate peoples around the globe.
How about this instead: India's tiger poaching problem is a direct reflection of the utter poverty and lack of education on the part of the Indian locals, who would trade one of their most precious resources for a few lousy bucks, because they are THAT desperate. The problem will not go away until the Indian government finds a way to improve the lives of its own people, to the point that tiger-poaching would not only lose its lucrative appeal, but also make the poachers cultural pariahs to their own community. The same goes for ivory from Africa, bear gall bladder from where-have-you, etc.
Blaming the Chinese for everything is a whole lot easier and more fun though, isn't it? Especially when you are trying to ingratiate yourself to your local hosts.
As far as Chinese lust for exotic animal parts goes, that most certainly exists, and has existed for millennia. The difference is that in the past, only a handful of the wealthiest degenerates could afford these things, whereas today their ranks have swollen to unprecedented numbers thanks to the economic boom. In a population of 1.3 billion, even 1% represents 13 million! Think about that for a second before you lump the other 99% among "those damned Chinese" as the target of your righteous indignation. Do all Americans deserve to be punished for the whims and actions of a few Donald Trumps in their midst?
It's rather sad that stories like this always degenerate into gratuitous China hate-fests in the comments section. Is that really all there is?
I am much concerned about the extermination of not only tigers, elephants, or any living species including forests and plants. It seems that awarness and mindshift is very urgent. Humanity not only kills with heartbreaking methods beautiful animals - it does not evens stop at killing each other. It seems to me unfair to blame only the Chinese, since I have seen such atrocities committed in Indonesia, Australia, Guinea, in the United States as well as in Europe - and these were not meant for export to China. In Indonesia I have seen children ripping apart frogs to eat the legs and throw the reminder of the animal into a dust bin.
Having said this, it does under no circumstances mean that I wish to "belittle" the Chinese responsibility.
The chinese are the leader in world wide poaching. All sorts of animals from all sorts of places for all sorts of reasons. Why is this? I am going to assume that there are almost no wildlife in China, so now they want all wildlife wiped out. Crazy
Es sorprendente el grado de aniquilación en contra de tantos animales , por parte de los humanos y que tengan que estar en reservaciones para poder preservar las especies , gracias a las personas que se preocupan y ocupan por cuidarlos .
Are there programs in tiger reserves specifically to train and hire *women* as wildlife rangers, as there is for lions at Sasan Gir?
Thanks, Ms. Wright, for being a role model for girls world-wide. We at the "Fanged Wilds and Women Program" envisions more women like you saving predatory animals from extinction.
CHINA NEEDS STOP IT ANIMAL CRUELTY AND RHINO POACHING AND WE NEED TO TO THIS BY PLACING EMBARGOES ON THAT COUNTRY
Belinda Wright continue to stop the work of poachers and prevent their illegal trade in tigers and find means to give more authorities to track down and severely stop poachers
Keep up the good Work India, I know you very well, I been to your country many
times, You are the best,
PS: Belinda Wright you are doing a great Job!! God Bless You,
\Killing such rare animals should be punished with Death Penalty , No other solution seems to work
MAGNIFICENT CREATURES DYING UNNECESSARILY. KEEP UP YOUR EFFORTS.
The conservation of tigers is limited to people who belong to the WPSI. Many people do not know the importance of tigers.There is rampant encroachment of tiger habitat because there is no education or awareness about tiger.The Wild Life Protection should include the people in the near vicinity in conservation and protection activities. Aggressive campaigning and awareness programmes should be conducted to protect these beautiful and majestic animals.
China has much to answer for regarding having or killing animals cruelly. Dogs are steamed alive or beaten to death, angora rabbits have their fur pulled out every 3 months and tigers are decimated. Surely in a medical science that is over 3000 years old there is room for up to date research for medicines without relying on animal parts
some sterling work is being done .........but lots more is needed...its a complex scenario here in india
This is a big disturbing problem we have for these beautiful animals. There are so few of these cats left out these because of the poaching problems. I wish we can clamp down with Wildlife Protection with this cruel and extinction problem. If they keep this illegal problem up, there will be noooooo tigers left!!! HELP!! HELP!!!
I wish Mozambique's government would also invest in Wildlife Protection. We are losing our Wildlife at an alarming rate :( Mozambique lost its last 12 rhinos to illegal poaching last year April and now they targetting the elephants and the lions and every day it just kills me to feel so powerless.
Thank you Belinda. China has proved to be a problem word wide. They consume everything in their path, whether it be minerals, animals or land. It is called the pacman effect. Their own wildlife is not even safe from thenm. And the sad part is that no-one world wide is prepared to actively take them to book. Therefore they get away with it all the time.
CHINA is the source of the Tigers demise!! China must ban all trade in tiger "parts" to ever reverse the tigers fate. At least know that much. Please watch this video. If, like me, you fear horrible images, I have previewed and it is sad but not gratuitous.
Belinda Wright - you are doing a great job. Keep on keeping on!
We must focus on persuading China to change their attitudes about animal parts.
i like that
iseen that today
They're innocent creatures that deserve the chance to live as all of us. Not counting that they extinct. And, for the ones who buys these, one day you will have to answer for this, as well as those who kill these poor creatures
It's nice to know that someone is actually doing something to save these beautiful animals. It is heart-wrenching to see the tigers suffer simply because of some stupid Chinese belief that tiger parts are medicinal.
It is good to see that someone tries to save those beautiful animals.
I agree!! If a few poachers were shot - who knows!
There needs to be a study showing that men with or without tiger products do not have an improved sexual function. This could be carried out with people being told that they are getting real tiger ( when they are not) others could receive something else and are told its not tiger. The study could be divided into people who believe that tiger will help their sexual function and people who will not. This can be carried out by a mixture of people who believe or who do not believe in it.
The natural medicine practitioners could be brought to task by the Chinese governement and making it illegal. In Africa they paid the poachers more to have them look after the Tigers. See Wildlife Wars by Richard Leaky.
KInd Regards
Sue King
Maybe we should just take them out and shoot them,and let those who know them raise a fuss over it, then just turn around and say No big deal we just wanted you to have a complete understanding Meaning all [ poachers ] that if this happens to any more of these animals you to will be shot dead just as soon as we find you
Kako su ljudi brutalni!
Unfortunately, the Chinese attitude will NEVER change. They firmly believe that it is their RIGHT to exterminate any species for the benefit of their "traditional beliefs". Money is THEIR God and respect for life comes a sorry second!
I 100% agree with Jeanette, killing tigers and any and all other animal/mammals is not the answer to the future. for anyone who thinks animal oil, skin, blood, organs is the cure for any disease you really do need to be educated. all you do by killing animals/mammals is interrupt the balance of life on earth. if anything is interrupting this it is man and their ignorance and greed. please people look at what damage has been done already, so many wonderful creatures have gone extinct that have become almost a myth to some because of human greed. animals have the right to be here as much as humans. the world has lost so much already when it comes to the survival of animals/mammals that is so sad. china buying indias tiger parts. japan killing and selling doplhins for meat or for aquariums. these animals/mammals have no place in the world that is left because of human greed. sharks who we have entered their waters lose their life because people think the fins cure disease and taste good, egg noodles have more taste bu the way..... anyways come on people lets stop the ignorance and instead of killing lets save all the beautiful creatures, there is more money in tourism than killing just a thought, you get rid of all these animals/mammals then what? you have nothing. you promote tourism and conservation, you have much more to look forward to and ongoing. once these animals/mammals are extincted they will not magically re-appear to continue this heartbreaking tragedies. protection and conservation is the way to go world. lets all get on board. and I am sure if any of these beautiful creatures on earth could speak imagine the horrible heartbreaking stories they could tell.
We should educate the people in the Asian countries that keep this unethical trade going on that body parts of wild life are really not beneficent to your sexual stamina and longevity. Only when we realize that our earth, ecosystems and diversity of wildlife are not only beautiful but key to our own survival in the long run, we will stop killing these magnificent animals......
es ist eine schande,das heute noch diese tiger illegal abgeschlachtet werden. wo man wir doch schon lange wissen das sie vom aussterben bedroht sind. das ist eine tragiode was wir menschen ihnen antuen. wie weit soll das noch gehen. wann wird der mensch verstehen was für da zerstören.und vieles mehr.
@Gene T Maybe in the comments section they mistook what Belinda Wright was trying to say, but she was not condemning all the chinese, she was saying that there should be laws against the traiding of tiger parts, not that we should hate China, or that is all China's fault.
@Gene T , facts are facts! The major demand for Tiger parts come from Asia. With the wealthiest that can afford them being in China. Plain & simple. Your long winded post aimed at how we deflect blame and Bash China is lacking one thing! TRUTH!
@Gene T
I can only agree with you. Might I mention that "traditional" Muslin attitude to animals can be discussed or questioned - yet who dares to condemn an entire and sophisticated old civilization?
@Kailash Kumar I fully agree with you!
@Graham Bryan
Please tell me if you actually assisted dogs being steamed alive?
If yes - what did you do?
@Gene T Muslin? Like Muslin Terriers? http://cheezburger.com/1246480640
@Katrina R. @Gene T
So sorry for the typing error - surely you must have gathered that I meant Muslim