Tigers and Humans

There has always been plenty of conflict between the tiger and humans. What is ironic is that we are the ones to continually invade their natural habitat and then complain when tiger attacks do occur. When we destroy their natural habitat they are going to be forced into areas that they never were in before to find food and to survive. Yet we then tend to view the tiger as being aggressive instead of recognizing what the real problem happens to be.

The destruction of the natural habitat for humans continues to be the leading cause for the decline in the number of tigers. It is no secret to many groups of people out there that they don’t care either. In fact, illegal hunting of them for sport or to clear them out of areas continues to be a very common activity. Even with laws in place to protect the tigers they are hard to enforce.

It is no secret that tigers have killed more humans than any other type of cat out there. That doesn’t give them the status as being safe for humans to be around. It has also instilled a fear of them in many humans. This is why so many don’t think it is wrong to kill them. They see them as man eating machines instead of animals that are merely thriving off of their instincts for survival.

In many areas the natural habitat for the tiger has been destroyed so that people can build homes in that area. Many ranchers have livestock that the raise and sell to make money. Tigers often come into these areas and kill the livestock due to their own food sources being depleted. They also find it easier to get prey that can’t run too far due to the fences. Due to the fact that tigers can leap for high and far, those fences aren’t going to keep them out.

Many humans in such a situation have set out poison in order to kill the tigers and to protect their livestock. Even though such practices are illegal, it continues to be something that takes place. It is very hard to prove what actually caused the death of many of these tigers. Even if poison is detected finding out who placed it out there is almost impossible to uncover.

Many humans though are extremely compassionate when it comes to the tigers. They are doing all they can to invest their time and money to help save them. They want to encourage other people to join them in their cause as well. The pressure that conservation groups have put on government agencies has really paid off too. It has helped to ensure that the tigers may have some chance of surviving. With all of them on the endangered species list though it is a huge challenge.

Humans that take the time to learn more about tigers help them to be protected in their natural environment as well. Many of these people help to take care of tigers in captivity as well as to document what they observe from them. Due to the low numbers genetic profiling and selective mating for them is very important. With the technology that humans have we can help to ensure those with genetic material too similar to each other don’t end up mating.

It can be very expensive to keep tigers in captivity though. This is why many of them are in zoos and the circus where money can be made from the presence of them. A great deal of research goes into ensuring their environment while is captivity is as close to what they experience in the wild as possible.