Some small good news on the endangered Tiger front.

[DanCa]

KOLKATA, India (AFP) - Eleven endangered Royal Bengal tigers have been rescued from circuses in eastern India and will be held in a game sanctuary where it is hoped they will breed. Royal Bengal tigers are near extinction due to poaching for their skins and bones that are used in traditional medicines, and habitat loss due to human encroachment, wildlife experts say.The male and female tigers, aged between five and 10 years, were rescued in raids on circuses in West Bengal, said P.T. Bhutia, conservator of forests in the eastern state.

Three years ago, West Bengal passed a law banning the exhibition of tigers, lions and monkeys.The big cats will be set free to roam in the Jaldapara sanctuary in the scenic Dooars region in West Bengal which is due to begin a 5.5-million-rupee (120,000-dollar) breeding programme in the next two months.The programme will be "the first of its kind in the eastern region," Bhutia said.

"Royal Bengal tigers have given birth in captivity. We're sure they will breed in the natural habitat to give a boost to the tiger population in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas," he said.
The sanctuary is 600 kilometres (370 miles) north of the state capital Kolkata.The cats are being temporarily housed in a small zoo in Dankuni on the outskirts of Kolkata, Bhutia said.The future of the Indian tiger became a big issue earlier this year when the government said poachers killed 122 of the cats between 1999 and 2003, despite a conservation programme.

Between 3,500 and 3,700 Indian tigers are left in the wild in India, according to government estimates, down from 40,000 tigers before India's 1947 independence from Britain.The Sundarbans mangrove forest, straddling West Bengal state and adjoining Bangladesh, is the largest habitat in the world of the Royal Bengal tigers. A UN-funded census found 668 Royal Bengal

A quick note about tigers. www.savechinatigers.org is a good place for information about tiger conservation and facts and a place where I donate when I can. These are my totems animals after all. The story where I got this article from is off yahoo.com

[charlie]

1. I stood 3 feet from a Bengal once

at a zoo in Tokyo. One of the paths wound its way around the tiger house and there was a barred window just a couple of feet from the handrail, with a tiger looking out. I couldn't pass a chance to be so close, so I went up and stood next to him. He watched me, I watched him. Paws like baseball mitts and a head like a Maytag washer. Then he growled. A small annoyed growl, like I was blocking his view or something. My body reacted before my head, my guts bounced off the ground before spasming into knots, legs went rubbery, standing every which way but straight.

I gave him his space.

[DanCa]

3. I gave him his space

Charlie that was beautiful. Made me cry.

[charlie]

6. That's all right

He nearly made me cry!

[rosesaylavee]

2. The link is not working -

Thanks for the post - we always need good news!

[DanCa]

4. which link ?

www.savechinastigers.org

[rosesaylavee]

9. Thanks - the 's' was missing on the orig post. n/t

[frogmarch]

13. tigers

India is the homeland of my maternal ancestors. I was born there, in the foothills of the Himalaya. Among my family keepsakes are the claws of a tiger that once attacked my mother when she was a child, as she walked down a path near her home. Villagers working in a nearby field saved her, killing the tiger with their scythes. That incident was only one of many tiger incidents my family experienced. There were deaths as well.

I have a great love for animals and am a vegan. But I certainly have mixed feelings about tigers; that is to say, about India breeding more of them.

On the Indian side of the Sunderbans mangrove jungle, which separates India from Bangladesh, about 50 people are killed each year by tigers. And that's in the Sunderbans region alone, where there are estimated to be only about 270 tigers, a fraction of the total number of tigers living in India. As the article posted above states, in India there are altogether about 3,700 tigers. That is more than anwhere else in the world.

Studies are being done to try to understand why tigers attack humans so frequently. Until it is understood, maybe caution should be used before trying to breed more of them or considering allowing contained ones to roam freely. It seems likely to me that much of the "poaching" may actually be killing of tigers in self defense.

[DanCa]

15. Hi frogmarch welcome to DU

Thank you for the interesting counter post. I will strongly consider your words. Danny. PS save china tigers are working to keep tigers in seclusion away from humans ..

[Lindacooks]

5. I want to pet a tiger!!

On the Animal Channel this afternoon, there was an entire program about Tiger Island in Australia. The tigers are so imprinted on humans there they are regularly taken for walks through the park on a leash, and visitors to the park can walk right beside them and pet them! That's one of my life goals, to make it there, and to swim with dolphins.

[charlie]

7. I have a photo

of my missus holding two tiger cubs at a zoo in Singapore. I'm not fond of tourist attractions that do that sort of thing, but still, it's one of my favorite pictures. If you could see it, you'd see my wife is clearly blissed.

[Lindacooks]

8. Oh, I'm jealous!!

For my birthday last year, my sweet dh called all the zoos in our area (and a little beyond that) to see if I could pet a tiger, and was told NO every time. Not even the babies. Sigh.

[Ladyhawk]

10. The guy who moved to Tiger Island in Australia used to work

at Tiger Island here in California at Six Flags Marine World. Over the years, I have touched tigers on a number of occasions, mostly little cubs of all colors: normal, butterscotch and white. These days, the bigger tigers don't come out to play, but at Tiger Island, handlers wrestle with the big cats on land and in the water. It's a lazy sort of life for them, for the most part. Much of the day you can find the tigers asleep with their heads on the trainers' laps. They also play "tackle the trainer," which is awesome to watch.

Here's a pic of a Marine World tiger diving for meat. Folks can walk up nearly to the glass to get a close view.

[DanCa]

12. Thank you for the pick

You can just see the musculature in thier body. There truly amazing animals.

[Ladyhawk]

16. You bet your sweet ass! Look at the shoulders on that cat!

This beast was meant to bring down very large game. :) The paws are huge, too.

[Ladyhawk]

11. One of my life's goals is also to swim with dolphins,

but only if they're willing. I want to do so in a wild setting where the animals have the freedom to get the hell out of the way if they so choose. Some Atlantic spotted dolphins have developed an affinity for swimming and playing with humans and I've met folks who have gone swimming with them. They said it was a fabulous experience.

In the meantime, I enjoy dolphin (and whale) watching. I took these pics from the bow of a boat in Monterey Bay, California:

Pacific white-sided dolphin:


Common dolphins:

[Lindacooks]

14. COOL pics!

We used to vacation on Sanibel Island, before Bush was governor, and several times dolphins swam right past us when we were in hip deep water right off the shore. It was SO cool!

[cynatnite]

18. I'd love to have one, too...

but I'm against citizens owning exotic animals like that. I don't believe it's healthy for the animal for the most part, but sometimes you do find some that recognize what these animals really need. The needs of the animal take priority.

[Lindacooks]

19. Oh, I don't want to own one, just pet one.

And in Tiger Land, the tigers are raised from birth by one human being so they are 'safer' - no wild animal can ever, or should ever, be domesticated.

[Booster]

17. If any of you are ever in So. CA go to Tippy Hedren's Shambala.

We went the very first year she opened up the compound to people and it was well worth the trip. We also got within 3 ft of a Bengal who was only on a chain held by a man almost the size of the tiger. Tippy Hedren was extremely nervous that day (may have been the first day they opened). Very funny stories about that day. I have a picture of myself sitting beside a lioness petting it on the head. It's a very interesting place to go, and now Tippy has even built a house and actually lives on the compound. She told the story of when she lived in Beverly Hills and had 5 full grown lions living in the house with them (shudder). Very interesting place, very interesting lady.