The Fund for the Tiger
How You Can Help
December, 1997
Dear Friends:
1998 ushers in The Year of The Tiger in the Chinese Calendar.
It seems appropriate, therefore, that those of us who care about
the tiger should resolve to support the work being done to
prevent this magnificent animal from disappearing, forever, from
the forests and jungles of Asia.
NEPAL
I have just returned from a trek in Nepal and am pleased to
report on some of the projects The Fund For The Tiger is
committed to supporting in 1998. Grants to Nepal go via the
International Trust for Nature Conservation- a charitable trust
dedicated to wildlife conservation in association with the Tiger
Tops/Tiger Mountain Group. ITNC Trustee Dr. Charles McDougal
works closely with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife
Conservation (DNPWC) and the various Park Wardens to co-ordinate
these projects.
- Initial work to establish the first anti-poaching effort
at Royal Sukla Phanta National Park in Western Nepal has
begun. As I mentioned in my summer Newsletter, a recent
survey which we funded at Sukla Phanta found evidence of
only 16 adult tigers and three have been killed thus far
in 1997. This project has met with enthusiastic support
by the Director General of the DNPWC and the Park Warden.
The anti-poaching effort will consist of manned patrol
groups, establishing information networks, and offering
rewards for the arrest and conviction of those involved
in killing tigers.
- A survey is currently underway throughout Nepal of areas
on the periphery of currently 'protected' tiger habitats.
This is a joint venture of the ITNC, the DNPWC, and the
King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation. The Fund For
The Tiger has offered to help fund this project. It is
important to determine which tiger populations are
completely isolated and which may have viable links to
other tiger habitats. Of particular importance will be
the search for a link in tiger populations West of Sukla
Phanta into India and East of Royal Bardia National Park
into an area known as Banke. A proposed hydro-electric
project on the Karnali River may forever alter the flood
plain habitat of many endangered species at Bardia so an
Eastern extension of that protected area may be critical
in the future.
- East of Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal's healthiest
tiger population, lies a partially protected area known
as Parsa, which links up with tiger populations in
Northern India's Valmiki Tiger Reserve. It is of critical
importance to maintain this corridor. When assessing the
health of a specific tiger habitat it is important to
look at the overall population rather than just the
sometimes arbitrary boundaries of a national park. If
tiger populations become isolated or too small, genetic
diversity is compromised, inbreeding occurs, and this
ultimately leads to the demise of the population. Tigers
require a certain amount of space, both for the dominant
adults to flourish, and for the young to disperse. We
helped fund an ITNC survey in 1996 and found only 6 adult
tigers in Parsa. There is only one small anti-poaching
unit in Parsa but more are urgently needed. I have
suggested that The Fund For The Tiger help establish more
protection to prevent one very healthy tiger population
(Chitwan-Parsa-Valmiki) from becoming two isolated
islands.
INDIA
The tiger story in India is as vast and complicated as the
country itself but it must be remembered that most of the world's
wild tigers are in India. One organization which continues to
fight for the survival of the tiger on many different levels is
the Wildlife Protection Society of India headed by Belinda Wright
and Ashok Kumar. We continue to support their extensive
investigative project into the poaching and illegal trade of wild
tigers. The WPSI has a vast network of informants throughout
India; investigates every tiger poaching incident; works with
local government agencies in identifying wildlife criminals and
smuggling trade routes; and recommends improved wildlife
management and protection measures. They have documented 70 tiger
deaths this year and fear that this is only the 'tip of the
iceberg.'
- Shatoosh: One of
their more interesting projects involves the connection
between tiger bones and the shahtoosh
wool of the endangered Tibetan
antelope. Their recent report documents tiger bone and
shahtoosh bartering along smuggling routes on the
Indo-Nepal-Tibetan border. This was confirmed to me
personally by a Tibetan in Taklakot near Mt. Kailas in
1996. Senior WPSI investigators helped a sting operation
in London last February where police seized illegal
shahtoosh valued at over $500,000.
You can Help
Tiger conservationists may differ on the most important long
range problems facing the tiger- lack of prey species; loss of
habitat due to economic development and population encroachment;
or the lack of political will in tiger habitat countries. All
would agree, however, that the single most important cause of
tiger losses throughout the world in the last ten years has been
poaching to satisfy a market based on traditional Chinese
medicinal customs and practices.
As the Chinese calendar turns its pages to The Year of The
Tiger, I ask for your help in doing what we can to ensure that
the tiger will still roam the forests of Asia when the next Year
of The Tiger returns. Please send your tax deductible
contributions to The Fund for
The Tiger at P.O. Box 2, Woodacre,
California 94973.
Sincerely,
Brian K. Weirum
Chairman
The Fund For The Tiger
Page last updated February 14, 1999
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