Indian Reserve Emptied of Tigers

[chlamor]

Indian reserve emptied of tigers

Randeep Ramesh in New Delhi
Thursday March 31, 2005
The Guardian

An entire population of tigers has vanished from a forest sanctuary in the Indian state of Rajasthan because of poaching, a police investigation has found.

After months of tiger hunting, an official inquiry launched by the country's prime minister has found no trace of the 26 big cats which were supposed to prowl the 350 square miles of dense jungle in the Sariska reserve.

The disappearance of tigers in Sariska came to light when reports surfaced that none had been sighted for six months. NGOs have questioned whether another tiger park in Rajasthan, the Ranthambore reserve, really contains the 40 tigers apparently counted by officials.

India's tiger population has shrunk from an estimated 40,000 a century ago to about 3,700 this year, a government census shows. Conservationists say even this number is artificially inflated by officials who do not want to expose the depth of the crisis for fear of losing their jobs. Many put India's tiger population at closer to 2,000.

"What we have seen is a national treasure looted by poachers. The reason is that we have neglected the reserves for years," said Valmiki Thapar, author and environmentalist.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/india/story/0,12559,1448643,00.html

[tex-wyo-dem]

1. This is a shame and a travesty...

just goes to show you that many, many species on this earth are just totally screwed, and usually in the name of greed.

[The Stranger]

2. They lost 26 five hundred pound cats?

Never mind the irresponsibility, God Damn the stupidity.

[flaming bondage mask]

3. They should've dressed em up in cow suits

:eyes:

[Coventina]

4. And all for fucking "Traditional Chinese Medicine"

Yeah, I posted it before, and I'll keep on posting it.