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Skye Barba
April 8th, 2015
ENC 1102
Professor Wolcott
Tiger Conservation: Why and How to Stop it
Whether you have the opportunity to see the beautiful orange or white-stripped
magnificent big cat called the tiger in person or in photo, I guarantee youve said wow.
These creatures are absolutely stunning to watch and observe. We as humans have put
these amazing cats in the danger of never existing due to our lack of respect to their space
and life. In the history of this earth weve have already lost such great animals such as the
Tasmanian tiger, the Warrah wolfs, and Zanzibar leopards. It would be a shame to let
another magnificent creature join the list of death by humans. These journals and articles
listed below explain how humans are being destructive once again within this past
decade. Ive mainly focused on scientific journals from well-accredited professors at
universities, but Ive also gone through some magazine/activist papers written by
scientists that really wanted to push this information out to the people. The journals and
articles were all mainly focused in Asia and India since thats were most of the tiger
population resides. Deforestation and habitat fragmentation are destroying the lives of
tigers across the eastern half of Earth, not to mention the fact that we are deliberately
hunting them down and killing them for nothing but trading goods. If humans keep using
up protected lands and bullets, the tigers will loose their land, their prey, and their life.
The world needs to realize that something must be done, and must be done soon to save

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the tigers of this world. Scientists and commoners have ideas; the only thing missing is
the execution and support from higher officials to see them through.
Poaching is still a serious threat to tigers and doesnt get enough attention in
the world (Bell, Hebblewhite, Kenney, Mukherjee). Poaching is the highest its been in
the past 7 years with more than 1000 tigers being killed illegally (Mukherjee 1) (Kenney
3)! That statistic is saying a lot about how the people of this world are acting and how the
worlds priorities are in need of a rearranging. Tiger poaching is used partially for
medicinal purposes, but the majority is still just for the game of poaching (Kenney 23).
With tigers already being endangered, they cannot afford to have 78% of their deaths
come from the hands of a ruthless ill brained poacher (Bell 1). The only, and quiet
obvious, solution to this situation is to make sure poaching law are upheld and
reprimanded significantly so less and less people will be tempted to even try
(Hebblewhite 579).
Fragmentation of tiger habitat for human use is the main deadly threat to
tigers (Frewer, Imron, Johnsingh, Kenney, Greenpeace, Mondal/Harini, Sahoo,
Tilson/Nyhus, Yumnam). Tiger habitats and landscapes have been broken into small
fragmented land pieces due to social and economical expansion (Imron 276). Plantations
are destroying nearly the entire habitat available to tigers, even protected areas
(Greenpeace 5)! According to Mondal and Harini, 71% of PROTECTED habitat are
experiencing deforestation. The affects of fragmentation include poaching, inbreeding,
and lack of genetic gene flow, which are deadly for tigers (Kenney ii).
The solution to fragmentation, across the worlds board, seems to be linking
the forest patches via corridors (Hebblewhite, Imron, Johnsingh, Kenney,

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Mondal/Harini, Rathore). If the corridors arent placed with the fragmented forests,
inbreeding will be a tigers only option and poaching will be at a high, both scenarios
deadly for the tigers (Kenney 4). China has already begun to place corridors in tiger
landscape conservations, and the Amur tiger population has already climbed in numbers
(Hebblewhite 580-590). Corridors will have an abundant amount of positive affects such
as reducing the human-tiger interaction, reduce isolation, and increase the genetic
dispersal (Rathore 2).
The Gap
My gap in this study that I have decided to focus on is why and how companies or
towns can build in protected habitats, and how can we get them to stop? The research
papers that I read through seemed to just quickly mention the fact that building was going
on in protected areas, but not one paper explained how and why they were allowed to.
Getting this answer is crucial because building in these protected areas is what is causing
all the deadly fragmentation and deforestation of their habitat. In my opinion the building
of plantations, factories, and even residential use is due to the countries want for more
money.
Project Proposal
I believe a significant way to stop towns, or countries, from building in such areas
and to show them how protecting the area can benefit them more then plantations and
factories can through eco-tourism. I would have a sanctuary clearly marked off with 1 dirt
road through the forest for tourist to take a ride through. The opportunity to take a ride
through an entirely natural habitat filled with wild animals, and having just the slightest
chance to see a tiger, will attract so many tourists from around the world. So now the

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bigger or the more sanctuaries in an area equal more and more incoming tourists, which
inevitably leads to more money. Start with one, and when that blooms into a money
gatherer, watch others start to follow soon after. Money in a town leads to town
improvements, town events, and more resources for the residents. These positive
outcomes will guide the people to push this conservation movement forward and they
will start to realize that these intact habitats could be way more beneficial then those
giant plantations and factories. Once the people start pushing for movement throughout
them, the government will step up and help give the people what they want eventually.
With governments attention finally gained, perhaps building in the protected areas will
come to a halt and maybe poaching laws will finally be given some attention and upheld.

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Works Cited
Bell, Loren. "Deforestation Drives Tigers into Contact, Conflict with Humans."
Mongabay. Mongabay, 19 June 2014. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.
<http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0620-lbell-tiger-conflict.html>.
Frewer, Tim, and Sopheak Chan. "GIS and the 'Usual Suspects'-Misunderstanding
Land use Change in Cambodia." Human Ecology 42.2 (2014): 26781. ProQuest. Web. 1 Mar. 2015.
Hebblewhite, M., et al. "Is there a Future for Amur Tigers in a Restored Tiger
Conservation Landscape in Northeast China?" Animal Conservation 15.6 (2012):
579-92. ProQuest. Web. 22 Mar. 2015.
Imron, Muhammad Ali, Sven Herzog, and Uta Berger. "The Influence of
Agroforestry and Other Land-use Types on the Persistence of a Sumatran Tiger
(Panthera Tigris Sumatrae) Population: An Individual-Based Model
Approach." Environmental management 48.2 (2011): 276-88. ProQuest. Web. 1
Mar. 2015.
Johnsingh, A. J. T. "Status and Conservation of the Tiger in Uttaranchal, Northern
India." Ambio 35.3 (2006): 135-7. ProQuest.Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
Kenney, John Scott. "Tiger Population Simulation Model: Practical Conservation
Applications Analyzing the Effects of Poaching, Inbreeding Depression and
Habitat Connectivity on Tiger Population Viability." Order No. 3465120
University of Minnesota, 2011. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 22 Mar. 2015.
"License to Kill." Greenpeace. Greenpeace International, 1 Oct. 2013. Web. 18
Mar. 2015.
<http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/publications/forest
s/2013/LicenceToKill_ENG_LOWRES.pdf>.

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Mondal, Pinki, and Harini Nagendra. "Trends of Forest Dynamics in Tiger
Landscapes Across Asia." Environmental management48.4 (2011): 78194. ProQuest. Web. 1 Mar. 2015.
Mukherjee, Krishnendu. "Tiger Poaching in India Highest in Seven Years Flora &
Fauna]." The Economic Times (Online)Dec 19 2013. ProQuest. Web. 23 Mar.
2015. Nyhus, Philip J., and Ronald Tilson. "Characterizing Human-Tiger Conflict
in Sumatra, Indonesia: Implications for Conservation."Oryx 38.1 (2004): 6874. ProQuest. Web. 1 Mar. 2015.
Rathore, Chinmaya S., et al. "Opportunities of Habitat Connectivity for Tiger
(Panthera Tigris) between Kanha and Pench National Parks in Madhya Pradesh,
India." PLoS One 7.7 (2012)ProQuest. Web. 1 Mar. 2015.
Sahoo, S., J-P Puyravaud, and P. Davidar. "Local Knowledge Suggests
Significant Wildlife Decline and Forest Loss in Insurgent Affected Similipal Tiger
Reserve, India." Tropical Conservation Science 6.2 (2013): 23040. ProQuest. Web. 1 Mar. 2015.
Tilson, Ronald, et al. "Dramatic Decline of Wild South China Tigers Panthera
Tigris Amoyensis: Field Survey of Priority Tiger Reserves." Oryx 38.1 (2004):
40-7. ProQuest. Web. 1 Mar. 2015.
Yumnam, Bibek, et al. "Prioritizing Tiger Conservation through Landscape
Genetics and Habitat Linkages." PLoS One 9.11 (2014): e111207. ProQuest. Web.
22 Mar. 2015.

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