Help Save the Tiger!

Welcome to the Home Page of The Fund for the Tiger, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the Tiger in its natural habitat.

The Fund for the Tiger was incorporated in the State of California as a non-profit organization on August 25, 1995. The Internal Revenue Service granted tax exempt public charity status on March 5, 1996 and the California State Franchise Tax Board followed with a tax exempt ruling on May 10, 1996.

• The Year End 2007 Newsletter is now online. Click here to read it.
   
• On Sunday, November 11, 2007 the San Francisco Chronicle Travel Section featured a story on Brian Weirum's Save The Tiger trip and a short essay that he wrote on the current tiger crisis. Travel Editor John Flinn went with him on the trip to India this past year. Click here to read the story.
   
• The Summer 2007 Newsletter is now online. Click here to read it.
   
• From time immemorial, men and women have looked upon the tiger with awe and reverence. But today the tiger is gravely threatened. Of the eight sub-species of tigers, at least three and probably four have recently become extinct. The rest need our help if they are to survive in the wild.
  
• The plight of the tiger is dire. Indeed, it can be argued that The Himalayan Natural Heritage is Under Attack. Through its newsletters and visits to Tiger habitat in India and Nepal, The Fund for the Tiger seeks to inform the public about the growing threat to the wild tiger.
  
• The disbursement of its funds to field workers in Indian and Nepal plays an important role in educating local populations, assisting anti-poaching efforts, and preserving habitat. How this occurs is described in our newsletters.

At this site we are pleased to offer the following information:

• Why it is that the Tiger is so threatened
• Breaking news about us, our activities, and the Tigers of India and Nepal
• An Archive of the Fund's activities as reported in our Newsletters, Reports, and Appeals
• History: How Brian Weirum came to found and direct The Fund for the Tiger
• Information on How You Can Help
• A photo archive dedicated to the Tiger is planned .
• Links to related sites

News

• Important News from China (June 2007)
  In 1993 China signed the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES)  that banned all trade in tiger parts and outlawed domestic tiger trade as well. There is now no doubt that the Chinese are farming tigers for slaughter to meet the demand for traditional medicinal products, most popular being tiger bone wine. There are thought to be over 4000 captive bred tigers in farms across China. Recent investigative reporting by the South China Morning Post (April 22, 2007) documents the activities at the Xiongsen Bear and Tiger Park. One reporter writes that 600 tiger skeletons are being steeped in alcohol to produce 200,000 bottles of wine. At a recent meeting in Kathmandu, DNA tests were introduced that proved tiger meat was being served at the restaurant that adjoins this ‘amusement Park.’ I personally have seen video footage of the cages and enclosures that house the tigers and the vats in which tiger bone wine is being made. One worker at the Park was quoted in a Fall 2006 IUCN Cat News article as saying...“Because tiger trade is a sensitive issue internationally, we will have to wait until after the 2008 Olympics to take the wine to the markets in Beijing and other cities.” There is also a movement within China to legalize trade in tigers. One argument for this is that by farming tigers for product, wild tigers will be saved in their natural habitat.
  
  This must not happen!
  
  1. Tiger conservation experts worldwide agree that legalizing trade in China will open the floodgates of slaughter of the remaining wild tigers because there will be no way to determine if the tiger bones came from a farm in China or a forest in Central India.
  
  2. This perpetuates a myth. Is there any scientific or medicinal proof that tiger bone wine is better for arthritis than ibuprofen? Or that tiger penis soup is a better aphrodisiac than viagra? But centuries of beliefs and customs empowered by myth die hard. It is believed that to ingest the tiger is to gain some of its mythical strength and powers. Wild tigers, therefore, will always be preferable. Would the true believer rather have a bottle of tiger bone wine made from a robust 500 pound tiger who has roamed the forests of Central India and sired countless litters of healthy tigers, or a bottle made from a 250 pound genetically inbred tiger living in a cage?
  
  3. Money. Big money! Depending on what chart you see, the international trade of endangered species worldwide is either the second or third biggest source if illicit money. Organized wildlife crime syndicates operate from Southern India up through Nepal into Tibet. And in Thailand, Vietnam, and across all tiger range states. Are we to think that they will shut down their business and close their bank accounts because some farm wants to breed tigers in China?
  
  4. And there is a final argument on the moral issue of right or wrong. This will, of course, be lost on anyone who would farm a tiger for slaughter. Since 1994 I have taken 120 people to see wild tigers in their natural habitat in India and Nepal. I have seen the wide and teary-eyed faces of awe after the first wild tiger sighting. And just last February I saw the faces of sadness and repulsion as we watched video footage of the tiger farms and vats making the wine. Some would say that looking into the face of a tiger is like looking into the face of God. Could this really be God’s intended fate for this magnificent animal?

  Brian K. Weirum, Chairman, The Fund for the Tiger

• The Summer, 2007 Newsletter has much new information. Click here to read it.
• You may also wish to  read the 2006 Letter and year-end report and the Summer, 2006 Newsletter
• Of special interest is news of the role of Tibet in wildlife crime trade and the response of the Dalai Lama.
• For more information see the updated website of the Wildlife Protection Society of India.
• Under the auspices of Mountain Travel Sobek, the annual trip to India to benefit The Fund for the Tiger will depart again in the spring of 2008.  For more information, contact Brian Weirum at jaibagh@aol.com.

Archived News and Reports:

• All of our Summer Newsletters and Year End Reports going back to 1997 are online. Click here to go to the index.
• Fall 2007: An essay by Brian Weirum on Tiger Bone Wine
• October 2004: Reports from Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Bangkok note the alarming rise in the tiger skin trade throughout Asia. Click here to read the article
• There is growing concern about attacks on the Himalayan Natural Heritage. Click here to read a report by Brian Weirum (Fall, 2003)
• Click here to read a Report from the Field (2000)
• ABC News ran a story in 1999 on The Fund for the Tiger. It specifically featured our donation of an elephant for anti-poaching patrols at Sonanadi Sanctuary in Corbett National Park, India. Unfortunately it is no longer available on the Internet. A more recent (February, 2006) story focuses on conservation efforts in Palamau Tiger Reserve.
• News about the problem of Shahtoosh from Brian Weirum (June 7, 1999, but still useful). News about shahtoosh also appeared in The Wall Street Journal (October 25, 1999)
• 1998 was the Year of the Tiger. Read about it in the Fund's September, 1998 Newsletter.

To contact and to contribute to The Fund for the Tiger, you may write to P.O. Box 2, Woodacre, CA 94973 or e-mail the Chairperson, Brian Weirum at jaibagh@aol.com.

In the email address of The Fund For The Tiger, "jaibagh," means "long live the tiger" in the Nepali language.

Our Web Site went online December 28, 1998. You are visitor  

Our webmaster is John Mordes. Please feel free contact him regarding the site.

This page was last updated Friday January 18, 2008