I love cats, any size or shape, and I know that big cats are in danger of becoming extinct so an article from Environmental News Service I ran across was encouraging. According to the oriental calendar, 2010 is the “Year of the Tiger,” so the government of Nepal jumped on the opportunity to do something about Nepal’s tiger population in the coming year.
Nepal decided to expand Bardia National Park by 347 square miles to increase critical habitat for wild tigers. The same article reported that in the early 1900’s, 100,000 tigers roamed Asia. Now 3,500 of tigers remain in the wild. It’s Nepal’s goal to double their tiger population through various conservation strategies. Evidently, it’s working already. The article stated: “Earlier this year, the first ever nationwide estimate of Nepal’s tiger population revealed the presence of 121 breeding tigers in the wild within four protected areas of Nepal.”
As I read on, I realized there are a number of nations with tiger populations, and they have united to stem the endangerment of this species. Some of the tiger range states that will participate in a summit of the same name this coming year are Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam. There are technical workshops for law enforcement officials of these countries to “facilitate and coordinate law enforcement action between wildlife enforcement officers, Customs, and police,” as part of the strategy to save the tigers.
There is hope on the horizon for endangered species as countries work together and soon. The idea of sustaining and/or increasing protected habitat, as well as, coordinating strategies for enforcement of poaching laws is already paying off in Nepal.
Read the whole article: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2009/2009-12-28-02.asp.