BEAUTIFUL NEWS: STRIPES ARE COMING BACK NOW!

Finally, some good news about one of the most beautiful animals in the world, the wild tiger.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the National Tiger Conservation Authority, state Forest Departments and the Wildlife Institute of India, as well as other conservation organizations, joined together in an unprecedented effort to save India’s tigers from extinction. And they are now able to report positive results.

While its population had been decimated, largely because they were hunted for the very reason we love them so much, the extraordinarily beautiful markings, India now reports a nearly 30% rise in its wild tiger population since 2011. Nepal reports a nearly 66% increase.

According to the latest tiger estimation released by India’s National Tiger Conservation Authority, there are now at least 2,226 tigers living in Indian jungles. India is home to about 70% of the global tiger population. India’s tigers primarily live in more than 115,800 square miles across 18 states, including 47 protected reserves.

While some suspect that the Indian government may have inflated the numbers, there has undeniably been improvement. This resurgence is largely due to better management of Indian tigers’ core habitats and improved protection from poaching.  

But poaching remains a high threat to wild tigers, driven by increasing Asian demand for tiger parts.

Tigers are symbolic of power and beauty in many Asian cultures such as in India and China.

Tiger skins are used to decorate homes and their bones are used to make wine in China, for example. The poachers have gotten increasingly sophisticated, transporting tiger body parts across mountain passes, where borders are not patrolled.

But it is not just their own lives at stake. Tigers are major indicator of the health of the forest environments that they inhabit. In fact, they are considered by conservationists as “water gods,” since these forests provide water for millions of people and mitigate climate change. They are kings of the ecosystem.

India joined 12 other Asian countries at a symposium in Nepal this past February, with a mission to end poaching. Nepal reported the laudable record of zero poaching for one full year, in large part because it enlisted and incentivized its citizens to help patrol and to help protect the animals.

These countries are now committed to the goal of Tx2 — doubling global tiger numbers by 2022, the next Chinese Year of the Tiger. Russia, Bangladesh, China, Nepal and Bhutan are expected to survey their wild tiger populations this year. It is hoped that Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, will join the effort.

We hope that the rest of the world takes some lessons -- the global tiger population is still under threat. We hope that the world can begin to celebrate this beautiful animal, not only for its beautiful markings, but also for its beautiful existence.

Read more about Beautiful Markings, as they relate to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including 10 New Books on Beautiful Markings Now, The Fickle Nature of Nature’s Beautiful Markings Now, 10 Amazing Chefs Making a Beautiful Mark, Old World + New World Markings Are Beautiful Now, PLACE TIME and We Can All Shine On… Now.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by rajkumar1220. INCREDIBLE INDIA. White Tiger.
2. Image: by Alan Jones. Untitled. Tigers in India.
3. Image: by Tarique Sani. Staring At You. Young Tiger in Kanha National Park.
4. Image: by Tarique Sani. A Young Tiger Resting.
5. Image: by Brian Scott. Afternoon Nap.
6. Image: by Tambako The Jaguar. “Ready to Attack (?)”
7. Image: by Christina Saint Marche. Eye of the Tiger.
8. Image: by Harald. Bathing Tiger in Ranthambore.
9. Image: by Christopher Kray. Tigress and Family.
10. Image: by bjoern. Tiger in Ranthambore National Park, India.
11. Image: by albi. Untitled. Tiger in Northern India.
12. Image: by Ian Duffy. Tiger Leaping From the Shallows in Bandhavgarh.
13. Image: by Kishore Bhargava. Rising Up… Noor (T-39) at Ranthambore Tiger Reserve.
14. Image: by Brian Scott. Keeping Cool on the Rock.