http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=survey-finds-dramatic-drop-in-siber-2009-12-07
This article describes how the Siberian tiger count in Russia is down 40 percent in the past 12 years. Siberian Tigers were once almost extinct with as few as 20 remaining individuals in the species. However due to protection by national governments they managed to get the numbers up to 500. But there has been a recent dip, the estimated amount of Siberian tigers a few years ago was 500 but now it is only 300. The WCS is the one who creates and keeps track of these types of numbers. They believe that this while being a little concerning has possible causes in the winter migration patterns and that the Siberian Tigers future is still positive.
I found this very interesting. I especially was interested in the process of counting the tigers. I have often wondered how the environmentalists come up with numbers for endangered species. In this article it said that they picked plots that were supposed to mirror the Siberian Tiger's habitat and count the number of tigers in the plot then multiply it. So to me this means that these numbers are not in fact accurate. I'm sure quite a lot of scientific procedure and research goes into the choice but I would think that there are so many factors to consider that one could never be sure. I think that these numbers are rough estimates and should be treated as such. I also found it interesting that the number of tigers in captivity were not counted in the world population total. If the natural species were to go extinct the captivity tigers would be very important. I'm not sure why they do this. The worse part of the article was the hunting details. Hunters put bombs surrounded by fat, wait for the tigers to eat them and then die because the bomb explodes in the tiger's mouth. It is just unnecessary and cruel. I'm glad the governments put restraints on the hunting.
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ReplyDeleteWell, to answer your question about why they're not counted int he world population. I think it has to due with the fact that animals in captivity lose a lot of the abilities of those animals that are in the wild. Animals such as orcas that require lots of social interation are physically and mentally stunted. Many animals in captivity also lose vital skills to living in the wild, and some cannot be reintroduced into the wild, such as wolves. thats my 2 cents
ReplyDeleteAll i really have to say about this article is poor tigers. Bombs in their stomachs is beyond cruel. How would those people count the population in the process described and be accurate? They could be making up these numbers to keep the program well funded.
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