Panda 1600 left
Javan Rhino 60 left
Mountain Gorilla 720 left
Leatherback Turtle 2,300 adult females in the Pacific left
Monday, January 4, 2010
Number Ten Panda--Top 10 most endangered species in the world
Battle to save tigers intensifies with only 3,200 left on Earth
Efforts to save the tiger from extinction will be stepped up this year after the World Wide Fund for Nature placed the animal at the top its list of the most endangered species.
Conservationists say there are just 3,200 tigers left in the world as the future of the species is threatened by poachers, destruction of their habitat and climate change. The world population of tigers has fallen by 95 per cent in the past century.
It hopes to increase patrols and work with politicians to eradicate poaching and thwart illegal trade of tiger skins and body parts.
The wildlife charity also aims to work with governments to encourage more responsible forest management and compensation for farmers whose livestock are killed by tigers to avoid them being hunted.
Diane Walkington, head of species programme for the WWF in Britain, said: "This year has been designated the International Year of Biodiversity by the United Nations and so we have created a list of 10 critically important endangered animals that we believe will need special monitoring over the next 12 months.
"This year will also be the Chinese Year of the Tiger, and so we have put it at the top of our list. It will have special iconic importance.
"Of course, there are thousands of other species on the endangered list. However, there is particular importance in selecting a creature such as the tiger for special attention.
"To save the tiger, we have to save its habitat – which is also home to many other threatened species.
"So if we get things right and save the tiger, we will also save many other species at the same time."
Also on the WWF's endangered list are bluefin tuna, whose population has been devasted by overfishing, and leatherback turtles which are slaughtered by fishing vessels.
The polar bear, whose polar ice hunting ground is melting through climate change, also makes the top 10, as does the mountain gorilla, whose population has fallen to just 720 in the wild amid poaching and deforestation.
Tiger numbers have dwindled due to a combination of activities by humans.
Demand for their skins, still regarded as luxury items in some countries, has left them at the mercy of poachers who have increasingly targeted the animals. The threat is compounded by the market for their body parts, which are deemed to hold medicinal properties in some cultures.
Poachers also hunt many species which are tigers’ prey, diminishing their natural food supply, and forcing them to attack farmers’ livestock instead.
At the same time, destruction of forests for timber, agriculture and road building has forced tigers into ever smaller areas where they are increasingly vulnerable.
Climate change also poses a growing threat – 70 per cent of the Bengal tiger’s remaining habitat in the Sunderbans mangrove forest may be lost within 50 years due to rising sea levels.
Of its nine main subspecies, three – the Bali, Caspian and Java tigers – are now extinct, while there has been no reliable siting of a fourth, the South China tiger, for 25 years.
Only the Bengal, Amur, Indo-Chinese, Sumatran and Malayan tigers remain but their the numbers have been reduced to a few hundred per species, save the Bengal and Indo-Chinese.
Courtesy of Casey Cainan with the note" I think these guy's may have miscounted. I don't think so Casey, if you were refering to missing the ones in captivity. What is in captivity is a poor substitute for a wild animal, even if those animals are currently on a monitored preserve. I have alway's equated a captive tiger as a print of a Rembrant. It give's you an idea, but it is not the real deal.
Tiger Haven
Eminent wildlife activist and author Billy Arjan Singh died at his home in Lakhimpur Kheri late on Friday night. Singh, whose house ‘Tiger Haven’ was situated in the vicinity of the Dudhwa National Park, was ailing for quite some time. He was 94.
A wildlife enthusiast who was known for his work on the big cats, Singh was born in Gorakhpur district in eastern UP. A scion of the Ahluwalia royal family from Kapurthala, Singh was a second lieutenant with the British Indian Army and fought the second World War in 1946. After returning to India, he purchased a small farmland in Lakhimpur Kheri district near the forest area, and created his house naming it Tiger Haven. The forest area was later developed as the Dudhwa Wildlife Sanctuary, with Singh said to have played a major role in it.
Singh had been conferred with a number of national and international awards for his wildlife conservation efforts. The Indian government presented him with the Padma Shri in 1995 and the Padma Bhushan in 2006. In 2004, the World Wildlife Fund conferred on him the J Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to international conservation. The Uttar Pradesh government had also conferred the Yash Bharti award on him.
Billy Arjan Singh
Wildlife conservationist and Padma Shri awardee Billy Arjan Singh has died of prolonged illness in Jaswantnagar, family sources said today.
92-year-old Singh passed away at his 'Tiger Haven' farmhouse last night.
He was conferred a Padma Shri in 1975 for his efforts towards wildlife conservation, besides awards like World Wildlife Gold Medal, Lifetime Award for Tiger Conservation in 1999 and J Paul Getty Award in 2004.
In 2006, he was awarded with the coveted Padma Bhushan Award and the Yash Bharti by the UP government.
Apart from his active contribution to wildlife conservation, Singh authored many books on tigers and wildlife.
"Billy even in his last days was deeply concerned over the wildlife in Dudhwa and he was keen to know the genetic status of tigers in the park," convener of Terai Nature Conservation Society (TNCS) Vijay Prakash Singh said.
This is whom I named the White Tiger Ari after. One of the greatest champions of tiger conservation in India since Jim Corbett. I communicated with him often, and his letter's are some of my most cherished possessions.
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