A tiger is seen during a jungle safari at the Ranthambore National Park in Ranthambore around 200kms from Jaipur on Oct. 22, 2010.MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP / Getty Images
Will this generation preside over the extinction of one of the great beasts of the Earth? Without urgent action, tigers will be gone in 12 years, predicts the World Wildlife Fund. That warning ought to ignite global action.
The tigers' rarity and majesty make humans covet them. Disgustingly, despite their endangered status, tiger parts are sought by a growing Asian middle class, for medicine, as luxurious clothing, even in wines. The trade is so lucrative that sanctuaries have been breached and emptied by poachers.
Development is also their enemy. The animals need a wide area over which to roam and hunt - many will eat up to 40 kilograms of meat in one sitting. With such rapid development in South, East and Southeast Asia, and with new markets for land-intensive products like palm oil, tigers have been driven into a corner.
With just a little money, and a lot of commitment from governments to stop poaching and protect habitat, including corridors for them to roam between habitats, the trend can be reversed. Some of the forbearance that was brought to end the ivory trade, with all its imperfections, needs to be applied to save the tiger.
Three subspecies of tigers have been wiped out in the past few decades. The Tasmanian tiger is no more. On the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali, all the tigers are gone. The WWF reports that there are as few as 3,200 tigers left. It is situation critical.