TIGERS IN CRISIS

by Angela V. Do..........

In 1991 , deep in the heart of Russia , a large female Siberian tiger lay waiting in the moonlight to make a kill to feed her four growing cubs. She was well – hidden from the deer that she was hunting and did not know that she too was being hunted. A minute later she was shot dead by a poacher. Her last cry echoed through the forest. The hungry cubs eventually came out of their hiding place to find their mother. They found nothing apart from her remains. They were now alone , all because their mother's skin and body parts were to be used in traditional Chinese
medicines.
The tiger is one of the most magnificent animals in the world, but it is also one of the most endangered. In 1900 there used to be 50,000 tiger in the wild. Today less than 5,000 survive , and three out of eight species of tigers have became extinct.
Many tigers today are killed by poachers. They are either shot or caught in traps,or they die because they have been poisoned. Another reason why so many tigers have disappeared is because their natural home has been taken from them. Forests are being destroyed, because humans want to sell the wood or use the land to grow crops.
Many people have tried to protect the tiger over the last twenty years. In 1993 China banned the use of tiger parts in Chinese medicine, but some people think the ban will soon be removed. If this happens, the wild tiger may soon be extinct. Some types will only be seen in zoos and others will disappear completely, only to be seen and read about in pictures and stories.