Tigers in danger as funding shortfall threatens to wipe out ranger defences
These majestic creatures face an onslaught of poaching. 100 tigers are being lost every single year to trafficking.
Apotential spike in tiger poaching has Fauna & Flora’s protection teams on red alert, but to make matters worse a funding gap is now forming that could be catastrophic. Fauna & Flora has put out an urgent call to the global community to save the last tigers holding on in the wild, and specifically to strengthen ranger defences across the Pacific coast of Asia. There are today only around 4,000 wild tigers left, with 100 being lost every year to trafficking alone. Experts believe that traffickers stockpiled illegal tiger products throughout the pandemic, but now these stockpiles are running low,
and a wave of poaching could be due at any moment.
The international nature conservation charity – which is the world’s oldest - is urgently asking for donations from readers of People’s Friend to shore up current gaps in protection in preparation for this imminent surge. Tigers are simply iconic. They are powerful, beautiful and undeniably unique. Beyond that, they are a vital asset to any ecosystem. Their role as apex predator makes them the very backbone of ecological stability. They regulate countless populations of animals, keeping all species and their impact on the environment in balance.
But decades of exploitation have seen their numbers decimated.
In under a century, wild tiger numbers have plummeted from around 100,000 to fewer than 4,000. One by one they have been tracked down, caught in deadly snares and slaughtered for their teeth and bones to be made into ornaments and ground into powder for medicines. Across Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, trafficking gangs have already wiped their kind out entirely. Yet, before this funding gap started to emerge, there was still clear signs of hope. Through the support of conservation organisations, dedicated local teams had been patrolling the wild day in, day out, removing deadly snares and deterring poachers. The result of their work was conclusive: cubs were being born and demand for skins was falling off a cliff. Tiger numbers across almost all of Fauna & Flora’s key sites for instance had either stabilised, or – incredibly – were increasing. In one key area of Myanmar, the number of deadly snares had
fallen from 237 in 2021 to just two in 2023.
But now all this work is at risk – a funding shortfall is threatening to start carving gaping holes into ranger defences across key tiger projects at the worst possible moment.
That’s why Fauna & Flora urgently needs your donations by May, when threats could spike, to address the most urgent aspects of the funding shortfall. But time is of the essence – we must act now. One of Fauna & Flora’s most renowned tiger experts, Debbie Martyr, has spent decades protecting tigers from trafficking gangs. She is particularly concerned that gangs may have been stockpiling tiger teeth and bone throughout the pandemic – when trafficking networks were put on hold – with plans to sell it on afterwards. These stockpiles may now be running low, meaning traffickers could be about to turn their attention to securing freshly slaughtered supply. Fauna & Flora is urgently asking for your help to respond to an impending tiger crisis. A funding shortfall threatens to see critical ranger defences fail, putting fragile tiger populations in immense danger just as poaching could be about to peak. You could help address this funding shortfall and get essential equipment into the hands of dedicated patrol teams by cutting out the coupon to the right, calling 01223 749019, or going to www.fauna-flora.org/tiger. Please respond by April 14th 2024.
It is imperative that defences do not fail at a time when they are needed most.
Tiger populations are so fragile that we cannot afford protection to begin evaporating as poaching surges. To prevent this impending catastrophe, Fauna & Flora is reliant on funding from readers like you. Please send a gift by no later than 14th April 2024, which could help to ensure tiger defences don’t fail at the worst possible moment. To take action please go to www.fauna-flora.org/tiger or use the cut-out coupon below. If the coupon is missing, please send a cheque (payable to Fauna & Flora) to: Freepost RTKS-ZCXS-HSBT, Fauna & Flora International, 126 Fairlie Road, Slough, SL1 4PY by April 14th 2024. Every single penny donated towards addressing the funding shortfall will go directly to saving tigers. Together, we can save these brilliant big cats.