Born to Be Wild Saving the Majestic Tiger

Home , Asiatic cheetah, South China tiger

What is man without the“ beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected. Chief Seattle, American Indian,” Duwamish Tribe IFAW/A. Mookerjee © IFAW/A.

For more information, visit IFAW.org/education. 1 IFAW/W. Poole © IFAW/W.

About IFAW About Animal Action Week

IFAW is an international organisation Each year, IFAW dedicates one week to raise awareness founded over 40 years ago in Canada. on dangers that animals and their habitats face. Geared With offices spread across the globe, it towards educating and involving young people in works to improve the welfare of wild environmental conservation activities worldwide, Animal and domestic animals by reducing Action Week (AAW) revolves around one important theme mistreatment and killing of wild animals each year. Students participate through art and design and the illegal sale of live animals and competitions and sign petitions to challenge leaders to their skins, tusks, horns and meat. take action. Most exciting, perhaps, are Animal Action Awards which are given to people – both young and old IFAW also protects wildlife habitats – who have made selfless and meaningful contribution to by supporting national parks and animal welfare. community areas, and assists animals that are in distress following injury, disease or This year’s theme is “Born to be Wild – Saving the Majestic disasters such as floods and earthquakes. Tiger”. This newsletter explains why tigers are endangered. It also has several learning activities that will help you In 2000, IFAW set up a regional office explore what you can do as an individual to help save this for East Africa in Nairobi. Since then, magnificent and rare creature. the organisation has helped conserve important wildlife habitats such as Tsavo and Meru National Parks, protected elephants by equipping the game rangers who fight poachers, and campaigned vigorously against ivory and wildlife trade.

1 Why Tigers are Important

Tigers are an important part of the planet’s rich diversity of life. As top predators in their food webs, they feed on a variety of prey species and help maintain the structure and efficient functioning of the ecosystems they inhabit. Tigers, therefore, are considered a major or keystone species. If tigers disappear, the ecosystem will be negatively affected. This means that protecting tigers helps many other species as well. Save The Tiger Fund © Save The Tiger

Yet tigers - big, strong and important as they are – face crisis. With just a few thousand tigers Born to Be Wild remaining in the wild, these majestic and ecologically important animals are dangerously

Tigers are a symbol of strength and courage. close to vanishing from the face of the earth. The largest of all cats, tigers are among the most beautiful and unique animals on the planet. Many years ago, eight subspecies of tigers roamed Remarkably well-adapted to survival in the wild, across Asia. They were adapted to a variety of each has a different pattern of stripes. Like the habitats from the cold woodlands of the Russian zebra, tiger stripes are unique to individuals like Far East to the varied grasslands and forests of fingerprints are to humans. India and the tropical jungles of Indonesia. Today, tigers live in scattered groups in a small fraction The stripes enable them to camouflage or hide in of their original habitat. Three subspecies went forests and grasslands where most wild tigers live. extinct in the last century while all the existing The fur without stripes is a tawny reddish-orange tiger species are now endangered. colour (or white on the body’s underside), but if you shaved it all off, the tiger’s dark stripes would In 1900, there were 100,000 wild tigers yet today, remain on its skin. only as few as 3,000 remain. Sadly, there are more tigers living in cages than there are in the wild Many cultures have long held tigers in awe, today (USA alone is estimated to have 5,000 to viewing them as symbols of beauty, charm, luck, and power. Tiger images appear in Stone Age 10,000 held captive in cages). It is ironical that an cave paintings in India and in many temples and animal that is so adept at living in the wild should shrines throughout Asia. The tiger is also one spend its life in a cage. But it is frightening that of the twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac. In China - the birthplace of all tigers - has fewer than fact, 2010 is the Year of the Tiger on the Chinese 50 tigers in the wild. Lunar calendar.

2 to having members of one family scattered in Habitat different parts of a town. For wildlife, it causes survival stresses that can lead to extinction. Tigers need dense vegetation for cover so that they can hide and pounce on their prey. They also need Another threat to wild tigers is the loss of their water and sufficient prey such as different types of prey animals by people hunting wildlife in and deer and wild pigs. Tigers also eat birds, monkeys, around their habitat. Without food, tigers may reptiles, and fish, as well as young elephants wander into villages to prey on livestock. This and rhinos. interaction - also called human-wildlife conflict - is often lethal for both people and tigers. Tigers are at risk for several reasons. One is the rapid disappearance of their habitat as human The biggest threat to tigers, however, is illegal populations grow. When wild lands are replaced trade in tiger products as it encourages poachers by houses, roads, farms, and logging operations, to poison, trap and shoot tigers so that they can wild tigers are forced to live in small “islands” of sell their bones, skins and meat at high prices on habitat without links or corridors. This process, the black market. called habitat fragmentation, could be compared

Fur: helps maintain constant body temperature; in extreme temperatures, Body: average wild tiger 9–10 ft tigers grow longer coat in winter than (2.7 – 3 m) in length, including tail in summer; fur on tigers in tropical (32 in.; 80 cm); height at shoulder forests is deeper in colour Ears: white spots is 42 in. (105 cm); weight is on backs of ears are 300–600 lb (135–270 kg) believed to help cubs follow mother through dense underbrush

Forehead: special marking often resembles Chinese character, or wang, which means “king”

Eyes: powerful eyesight for hunting at dusk

Legs: can run 55–65 kph, but tigers rely on stealth rather than speed to catch prey

Scent glands: help tigers mark territory; found Face/nose/mouth: tigers around toes, face, tail communicate through Stripes: provide camouflage scent and vocalisations for tiger to hide in brush (some heard as far away as three miles); whiskers help for feeling way through habitat

3 Emy Smith Photography/Photographers Direct ©

An adult tigress usually has two or three cubs, which remain with their mother for two years or more. Aside from mating pairs and females with cubs, tigers tend to live alone. Wild tigers have a life span of 10 to 15 years.

4 • Place an index card labelled “humans” at the top All energy comes from the sun. of your food web. How can humans affect tiger Food webs show how energy moves food webs? between living things within an • Briefly describe what you have learnt in this ecosystem as they eat one another. Lesson 1 activity. Using local examples, suggest why this In general, energy flows from is relevant for lions or leopards. plants to animals or, more scientifically, producers to consumers to decomposers. For example, plants create energy from sunlight. Deer get energy by eating the Pair up with a friend and discuss Lesson 2 plants. Wolves get energy by eating the the meaning of these words deer, while owls get energy by eating mice. (above). Are there any new words whose meaning you are not familiar with? When wolves and owls die, bacteria, fungi, and scavengers return their nutrients to the soil for the plants to use.

• Create one card for each of the following Key Vocabulary animals: tigers, deer, wild pigs, birds, monkeys, ecosystems poached fish, elephants, rhinos, bears (which tigers endangered camouflage frighten from their dens), leopards, reptiles, extinct vocalisation insects, and worms. food webs human-wildlife conflict habitat fragmentation marking territory • Tiger habitats have “dense” plants. Add cards for plant foods that might be found in a tiger’s food web in India, such as grasses (eaten most by deer, pigs, elephants, rhinos); flowers, fruits, berries, nuts (by birds, pigs, monkeys); and tree leaves (mostly by elephants).

• Start by placing plants roughly at the bottom of a blank manila paper and the tiger near the top. Using arrows, construct a food web.

Questions • Where would you place the sun on your food web? • What must be done to protect the tiger’s food web?

5 Meet Tiger’s “Cousins”

Tigers are not found in the wild in Kenya or the familiar with, having seen them in Kenya’s national whole of Africa. They are however part of the parks. Like their cousin, the tiger, they face Big Cat Family whose members many of you are threats too.

Joke: Which big cat should you never play cards with? A cheetah! Other Big Cats Around the World Cat Name Conservation Status Notes* © IFAW/D. Willetts • “Vulnerable”: estimated 10,000 - 23,000 lions in Africa • Used to live in most parts of Africa; now found only in the southern Sahara Desert and parts of southern and eastern Africa • Historically found in Africa and from Greece through Middle East to northern India

Lion (Panthera leo) • Asiatic lion, a subspecies, is critically endangered; fewer than 400 remain in India © iStockphoto/Stephen Meese • “Near Threatened”: unknown number in South America, Central America, south-western United States • South America’s largest cats; once roamed throughout South and Central America • Today, significant numbers found only in remote parts of South and Central America-

Jaguar (Panthera onca) particularly in Amazon basin; rare sightings near the Mexico-U.S. border © iStockphoto/Dmitry Ersler • “Near Threatened”: unknown number in Africa and Asia • No other wild cat has such a widespread range and diverse prey base, but leopard still under threat in many regions • Once common in all parts of Africa except Sahara Desert • Now gone from most parts of Northern Africa, apart from a few areas of Atlas Mountains; extremely scarce in western Africa • Southeast Asia and India threats: hunting, habitat loss • Several subspecies once common in Middle East now all but extinct; Korean leopard, Leopard (Panthera pardus) also known as Amur leopard, extremely rare in wild © IFAW/D. Willetts • “Vulnerable”: estimated 7,500 -10,000 cheetahs remain in Africa and Iran • Has disappeared from huge areas of its historic range; still occurs widely, butsparsely, in Africa (disappearing from 76 percent of African range) • In Asia, has lost almost all of vast historic range, which within last century extended from shores of the Mediterranean and Arabian Peninsula to northern shores of Caspian and Aral Seas and west into central India Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) • Asiatic cheetah now known to survive only in Iran © IFAW • “Endangered”: about 4,000 - 6,500 snow leopards in the wild, worldwide • Range now restricted to high mountains of Central Asia • Require large, low-density habitats • Experts suggest snow leopard population declined at least 20 percent over past two generations (16 years) • Main threats are poaching for illegal trade, conflict with local people Snow leopard (Panthera uncia) • Snow leopard is tiger’s closest cat cousin © iStockphoto/Andrea Poole • “Least Concern”: around 30,000 in North American West, Central and South America • Largest range of any land-based mammal in Western Hemisphere • Eliminated from eastern half of North America within 200 years of first European colonisation • Endangered subpopulation persists in Florida; records of pumas in north eastern Canada and the eastern U.S. rising

Mountain lion, or Puma • Florida panther, a subspecies, critically endangered; fewer than 100 remain (Puma concolor) *Conservation status according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. See www.iucnredlist.org for more.

6 1. Which of Kenya’s big cats reminds Tigers in Captivity Lesson 3 you most about the tiger? Why? 2. What threats does this cat face? While there may be as few as 3. If you were the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, 3,000 tigers left in the wild, what would you do to help this cat? thousands more are kept in 4. Imagine a tiger was taken to Tsavo East National captivity around the world. Park near Voi Town. How would Tsavo’s hot sun In China, some 6,000 tigers are affect its coat? Would its presence affect other kept by large tiger farms that animals in the Park? Which ones and how? breed and kill tigers to sell their body parts and products. In the Tigers under Threat U.S. alone, there are between 5,000 and 10,000 captive tigers. In the twentieth century, three subspecies of tiger disappeared. Most are privately owned, These are the Caspian tiger from Central Asia, and the Bali and often living in overcrowded Javan tigers from Indonesia. The South China tiger may also be and miserable conditions along extinct in the wild. All surviving tiger subspecies (Amur, Bengal, roadsides and in backyard- Indochinese, and Sumatran) are endangered, and some are critically breeder facilities, circus wagons, and private homes. Many were endangered (they face an extremely high risk of extinction in the purchased as exotic pets when wild). Researchers estimate that as few as 3,000 tigers - mostly they were cubs. But these cubs Bengal tigers - remain in the wild. don’t stay “cute” for long. In just six months, they can inflict a RUSSIA deadly bite. By three years old, Caspian Sea they can become aggressive - and owners can’t keep up with their needs. They can’t be released to CHINA KOREA the wild, either, because they lack the skills needed to survive.

INDIA In Kenya, there have been one or two attempts to keep tigers in cages. However, the tigers did

THAILAND not look as healthy, big or happy

Estimated tiger range as their counterparts in the around 1900 Estimated current tiger MALAYSIA wild. They were lonely, gloomy range by species and unable to breed. Experts Amur tiger South China tiger say animals only thrive in their Indochinese tiger natural habitat because they are Bengal tiger INDONESIA Sumatran tiger born to be wild.

7 Tigers are symbols of strength and courage

© Photolibrary in many cultures. These same traits make tigers a target for hunters and wildlife traders. IFAW protects dwindling wild tiger populations from poaching, illegal trade, and habitat loss. It also rescues orphaned tiger cubs to give them a second chance at life in the wild.

8 Lesson 4 Activity 1 Read the article below. It is based on real issues and events, though the conference it describes and the people it quotes are fictitious.

But farm tiger investors would have none of it, NORTH INDIA insisting they are the ones protecting tigers from Daily Gazzette extinction. “An estimated 800 to 1,000 tigers are Tiger farms in China under fire born each year on our farms. In fact, tigers are New Delhi, India — Tiger farm investors and alive because of us and unless we are allowed conservationists sparred furiously at the recent All- to sell tiger parts and make money to cover Asia Conservation conference in New Delhi, India. our expenses, you dreamers can kiss the tiger The bone of contention was tiger farming and goodbye. Tourism alone cannot feed these tigers,” illegal sale of tiger parts, which conservationists said Ho Jin, a farm owner. blame for endangering wild tigers, a claim tiger farmers vehemently denied. China’s 1993 ban on trade in tiger parts and products has not discouraged the owners of these “As few as 3,000 tigers remain in the wild - making farms who hold at least 6,000 tigers in captivity on them one of the most endangered animals on earth tiger farms. Hoping to someday make a large profit – and all because of poaching and sale of tiger from the sale of tiger parts for medicinal purposes, parts,” Harakati Marikiti, a Japanese conservation they are pressuring the Chinese government to lift expert fumed. “It is shocking and preposterous the trade ban. In the meantime, they operate the that tiger farm investors want sale of tiger parts farms as tourist attractions. legalised yet it is evident that it is this illegal trade that creates demand and sends poachers after wild tigers,’ he added.

Tiger in captivity. © IFAW

9 © IFAW

Tiger bone and other tiger products were once used in traditional Chinese medicine. According to Peng Wu, a farm investor, “Tiger bone products tremendously boost human health. For many centuries, they have relieved pain for people with different ailments, and it’s immoral to let people suffer poor health yet we have thousands of tigers on our farms.”

But Ming Li, an expert traditional Chinese healer, disagreed, saying “Tiger farming goes against everything we stand for because we revere nature. We A drugged tiger on no longer use tiger bone in our medicine a farm in China because we know this endangers tigers and weakens the ecosystem which is unnecessary because and we have developed other remedies anyway.”

Her views were supported by Chat Lesson 5 Khorsky, a senior anti-poaching official from Russia’s Far East, who asserted 1. Divide yourselves into four groups representing that captive breeding of tigers for trade conservationists, tiger farm owners, traditional encourages poaching. “It is much Chinese medicine men and illegal buyers of Chinese cheaper to shoot a wild tiger than to products. In your groups, discuss arguments in favour of your respective groups. Elect a leader raise a captive tiger so poachers just to present your views at a mock conference. Have kill critically endangered tigers in the one of you to act as speaker or chairman of the wild. The only to eliminate the demand conference. for tiger parts is to ban tiger farming altogether.” 2. Based on the activity above, if you were a tiger, would you prefer to live in the wild or be held captive While the session in New Delhi marked in a cage? Give reasons for your answer. Note: The a step forward in bringing opposing class can vote after the conference to gauge how you feel about this issue. groups together for discussion, the debate is likely to continue as long 3. You can use this activity to debate issues that affect as tiger farms and the desire for tiger other wild animals which face similar predicaments. parts exist.

10 established nine large forested areas as tiger reserves. Each reserve had a core area that was protected from human activities. Land managers worked to repair any previous disturbance so the habitats could return to their natural state as much as possible. By 2009, the number of tiger reserves in India had grown to 37.

In addition to suitable habitat, wild tigers need Focus Country: India protection from poaching in order to survive and thrive. Because tiger poaching has been a problem More wild tigers live in India than anywhere else at some of the reserves, thousands of wildlife in the world. At the beginning of the twentieth guards now defend tigers from poachers. Guards century, roughly 40,000 tigers lived there. Their also work along India’s borders to combat illegal numbers, however, dropped sharply during the smuggling of tiger parts to other countries. first two-thirds of that century mainly because of sport hunting. In 2009, as few as 1,411 tigers were Project Tiger has also raised local support for left in the country. conservation issues, and its work to protect tiger habitats has helped to protect human habitats. India banned tiger shooting in 1970 and passed Its efforts have reduced erosion, stabilised the Wildlife Protection Act two years later. In 1973, ecosystems, and encouraged using land wisely. the government of India launched “Project Tiger” Tiger conservation in India has demonstrated that to save its remaining tigers. This Project quickly what’s good for tigers is often good for everyone.

In India, IFAW was instrumental in bringing tigers back to the Sariska Tiger Reserve

after poachers killed all Menon © IFAW-WTI/V. of its wild tigers. IFAW has also trained and equipped nearly 5,000 enforcement officers, about one-third of India’s anti-poaching force.

11 Climate Change The dark green area Climate change is endangering Bangladesh. Researchers predict on this satellite image the habitat of one of the largest that if greenhouse gas emissions shows the Sundarbans, a protected mangrove remaining groups of wild tigers. aren’t limited quickly, 96 percent forest system that is Rising sea levels-caused by melting of this tiger habitat will disappear important tiger habitat. This protected area, ice and other factors - threaten in the next 50 to 90 years. Without which stands out sharply to destroy the mangrove forests sufficient habitat, the tigers will from the lighter-coloured of the Sundarbans, a coastal disappear as well. farmlands around it, is less than one metre (3.28 area along India’s border with feet) above sea level in most places. www.babakoto.eu

12 Focus Country: China

China is a land of great significance for tigers. of land, but in farms they are confined to small Experts believe that the South China tiger cages. Cubs are separated from their mothers at subspecies is a descendant of the earliest of all three months old - instead of three years old in tigers, which originated in China two million years the wild - so that their mothers can breed again ago. Even as recently as half a century ago, four quickly to produce more tigers for the farms. subspecies and thousands of wild tigers roamed the country. Buying and selling of tiger parts was banned in China in 1993. An agreement signed by most of China is also the centre of a modern controversy the world’s nations aims to protect tigers from over tigers - because of the more than 6,000 extinction based on threats caused by international captive tigers that are bred on tiger farms to make trade. Unfortunately, tiger farming stimulates tiger-bone wine (marketed as “health tonic”) and demand for tiger parts and endangers wild tiger. other products. Fewer than 50, if any, wild tigers A wild tiger sold for its parts can fetch as much as remain alive in China today. US$50,000 (Ksh 3.8 million) on the black market, making their poaching very profitable. The living conditions on tiger farms are often harsh. Tigers are used to roaming large areas Tiger cubs are separated from their mother as early as three months of age at a tiger farm in China. © IFAW

Tigers and Traditional Medicine

Although tiger farm In many Asian cultures, traditional actively worked to find and promoters argue that beliefs say that certain tiger body promote alternatives to tiger tiger parts are used in traditional medicine, parts have healing properties. parts in medicine. While they no the traditional medicine People who practiced traditional longer support the use of tiger community has stated that other remedies can Chinese medicine used to put bone, tiger-farming businesses be used instead of tiger tiger bone in medicine to treat promote the use of tiger bone ingredients. certain illnesses. In the wake soaked in wine as a health tonic, of global concern about tiger perpetuating the myth about survival, however, they have tigers’ healing powers. © IFAW

14 © IFAW/A. Mookerjee 15 Tiger losses dropped from 60 to 70 per year during Focus Country: Russia the early 1990s to 13 in 1995 and 18 in 1996. The number of Amur tigers stabilised through a Amur tigers (also known as Siberian tigers) once combination of law enforcement and a ban on lived across the Russian Far East, into China, and the sale of tiger products. The government raised down the Korean Peninsula. By the 1940s, they the penalty for poaching a wild tiger from roughly were hunted to a small corner of the Russian Ksh4,000 to Ksh1.5 million. Far East. Conservation efforts saved them from extinction and the population slowly grew, but the In spite of these efforts, Amur tigers are still in tigers again fell into extreme decline in the early trouble. A 2008 - 2009 winter tiger survey found 1990s. The reasons? The collapse of the Soviet an overall population decline of 30 percent, which Union resulted in weakened law enforcement means there are fewer than 300 to 400 tigers along Russia’s border with China where demand left in Russia. Along with declines in tigers’ prey for tiger body parts encouraged poaching and animals, poaching is still a problem in the Russian smuggling tiger body parts in Russia. Far East. So anti-poaching teams remain crucial. They work to detect, prevent, and discourage In 1994, the Russian government, along with tiger poaching. In addition, they enforce wildlife several conservation groups, established six anti- laws, identify smuggling routes, and keep an poaching teams. The results were remarkable. eye on illegal trade. Other efforts in the region include educating schoolchildren about tiger conservation and encouraging public support of

To help save Russia’s tiger protection. last wild Amur tigers, IFAW supports tiger patrol teams that work to combat poaching in the Russian Far East. Save The Tiger Fund © Save The Tiger

16 Extinction Is Forever

Wild tigers are in crisis, and Government commitments to their extinction looms far too action plans for conserving wild close to be ignored. Tigers have tigers in all the countries where The annual Tiger Day celebration in Vladivostok is disappeared from vast areas of tigers live are reasons for hope. the biggest event in the region, their original habitat, with their People must work together to attracting thousands of people and encouraging them to numbers dropping from around protect tiger habitat, eliminate protect, not poach, Russian’s 100,000 in the early 1900s to as poaching, combat illegal trade, remaining wild tigers. few as 3,000 today. and reduce the demand for tiger parts for these magnificent wild animals to be saved. IFAW/M. Vorontsova © IFAW/M.

What does the tiger say to his friends before they go out hunting for food? Tiger Cub Rescued “Let us prey.” What do tigers wear in bed? Thanks to the efforts of IFAW and other Stripey pyjamas! conservation groups, a young orphaned tiger (like the one above) recently received a second What happened when the tiger ate chance. The cub, which wandered into a Russian the comedian? village in March 2009 in a weakened condition, He felt funny! was not expected to survive. Tiger specialists captured it and turned it over to the daily care How does a lion greet the other of a rehabilitation team. The cub recovered as animals in the bush? a result of a special diet and training to restore ‘Pleased to eat you.’! its natural hunting skills and healthy fear of humans. It was released in a nature preserve What happened to the tiger who in September 2009. Most orphaned Amur tiger took a bath three times a day? cubs that are rescued lack the skills to survive After a week he was spotless! in the wild and must remain in captivity. This lucky cub was only the second tiger to return to How are tigers like sergeants in a life of freedom. the army? They both wear stripes!

On which day do tigers eaT FIsh? What threats do tigers face? Chewsday! How can these threats be dealt Lesson 6 with? Summarise your thoughts What did the tiger say to the cub chasing a hunter? persuasively and send your views in ‘Stop playing with your food.’ form of an article or letter to your school magazine, the Wildlife Club of What do tigers sing at Christmas? Kenya Magazine or a daily newspaper. “Jungle bells, jungle bells ...” Alternatively, you can share it with your friends in class. Why do tigers eat raw meat? Because they never learnt to cook!

“Imagine a world without tigers…” What do you call a great tiger in an essay, poem, story, piece of art, detective? Lesson 7 song, or other creative expression. Sherlock Bones!

18 IFAW East Africa IFAW International Headquaters ACS Plaza, Lenan Road 290 Summer Street P.O. Box 25499, 00603 Yarmouth Port, MA 02675 Nairobi - Kenya United States of America Telephone: +254 20 3874874 Phone: 1-800-932-4329 +254 20 722 205556 IFAW/W. Poole © IFAW/W.