• Question: Because tigers are an endangered species is there anything we can do to help them besides advertising campaigns to stop hunting them?

    Asked by aideenmcloughlin15 to Aggelos, Andrew, Eileen, Shane on 21 Nov 2012.
    • Photo: Eileen Diskin

      Eileen Diskin answered on 21 Nov 2012:

      Yep, awesome question! There are a few things you can do.

      One thing you can do, when you’re shopping, is to make sure that any products you buy are forest-friendly. This is because a lot of times, after tigers are hunted, the forests where they live are cut down and something new is put into its place – like palm oil plantations, coffee, or unsustainable forests. But if nobody is buying these products, the people that kill the tigers and cut down the forests will have less of a reason to do so.

      Another thing you can do is help encourage some of the people who are working to protect and save the tigers, in the forests where the tigers live. At this website, you can click on a ranger, and send an e-postcard to say thanks for doing a good job, and encourage them to keep up their good work!

      http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/tigers/tiger_initiative/poaching/zero_poaching/rangers/

    • Photo: Aggelos Zacharopoulos

      Aggelos Zacharopoulos answered on 21 Nov 2012:

      @aideenmcloughlin15,
      advertising campaigns that improve public knowledge are important as we, the public, can pressurise our governments to act. But as individuals we can also help the survival of all endangered species on our planet both directly or indirectly by adjusting our lifestyle. For example we can stop wasting food so less forest land is required to be turned to agricultural land to produce crops. Or reduce our energy use and energy waste so less of the ocean near the North pole is used for drilling for oil.

      So yes, there is plenty that we can do, as individuals and as society. It is not easy because we need to change some of our habits but the tigers and other endangered species are too beautiful and too special to lose them!

    • Photo: Andrew Jackson

      Andrew Jackson answered on 21 Nov 2012:

      yes. one really important thing to do is keep studying them and understand more about them. This way we can help to convince local people that they are no harm and in fact are helpful to have around. Many animals like tigers do really important jobs in the ecosystem that we often dont realise. Top predators like tigers are really important at controlling the population sizes of the herbivores, which in turn lets the plants grow better and supports even more life in the area such as more insects or more small mammals and birds. In turn, the insects are often really important for pollinating famer’s crops and many economies rely on them without even knowing it.

      The complexity of real ecosystems always surprises me and others. This is why we need to improve our basic understanding about how one thing can affect another with far reaching consequences for all of life on Earth.

      I love this complexity! It melts my head and i love pushing myself to understand it better… its the hardest jigsaw puzzle out there 🙂

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