Tigers: The Grim Reality and the Placebo Effect

Disclaimer: I do not own these pictures.




    

 

 

If these pictures gross you out, bring tears to your eyes, or make you feel sick to the stomach, then good.  This is the grim reality.  This is what's happening to the tigers.




According to the WWF, tiger bones have been used as a traditional medicine in China for over a thousand years.  Their whiskers, claws, teeth are said to have the power of good luck.  And plenty of people believe the affects to be true.

Consumer demands bring illegal poaching.  "Illegal" because of a treaty many countries signed in 1973.  It's called CITES (Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).    Even China signed.  Even Japan signed.  Even the US signed.  Even the UK signed along with lots of other countries like Panama, Spain, Togo, Sierra Leone...

CITES signed countries

I remember reading something about rhinos, which are also endangered.  Apparently their ivory tusks have some medicinal value and people are even "cultivating" some just so that they can "harvest" the tusks somehow without damaging the rhinos or something...  Anyway, the tusks aren't scientifically proved to cure any sickness even though users are claiming it helps.

Perhaps the tigers are having to endure the same false belief.

If you don't get it, let's put humans in this light.  I know it sounds harsh to use us but... the reality is harsh :/

Let's say there are some otherworldly creatures that have been living amongst us for a long time.  They are slightly stronger than us but for a long time we have lived in harmony.  Until one of them gets the idea that our bones are a good use for medicine.  Or rather profit.  Maybe they hunger for riches.

They might try dead bodies but maybe digging up graves wasn't such a good idea... where is the livestock?  All around them.  Illegal human poaching begins and we are slaughtered just so that our bones can be ground into powder and used a medicine that may not even work.

I would be so mad at these otherworldly people.  Our race may come to extinction just because of their "needs".

I don't like to be grim all the way through so here's a happy tiger pic I got off the Internet:

So, now that we've basked in cuteness.  Have you guys heard of the placebo effect?  It's pretty interesting.

If you believe that the said medicine works, it will work even though it actually has zero effect.  Why it works?

Humans are quite amazing.  As long as we believe, our bodies will cure themselves even though the medicine doesn't help.

So, because someone put an idea in people's heads, those people are asking for more ivory, more tiger bones, more good luck charms.  Even though they don't work.

Oh, you probably wonder, hey ho, why is it ALWAYS China?  It's not.  Trust me.  All 3200 or so tigers don't live in China.  Seriously, there's already enough people living there.

And take a look at this.  WWF tells us the truth.

The Problems Tigers Face

It's grim.  Too grim.  If this was us, it's like one of those dystopian novels where at the end, everyone dies.  Or is that one of those cheesy horror films?  But this isn't a film.  It's reality.  We can still do something.

I'll repeat;
WE CAN STILL DO SOMETHING, PEOPLE!!  AND WE ARE GOING TO DO IT!!
DON'T FORGET THE TIGERS!!

The Cycle: How it works

So, I haven't been able to post a new one on here for a while for a few reasons:
1. I've been busy with school
2. I didn't have a clue on what to write next
3. Life just didn't bring me here... no wait, scratch that.

Okay, so I'm going to reveal the cycle.  In life, there are lots of cycles.  The easiest one we all know is the cycle of life and death.  We die and the next generation is born.  Another cycle is the food chain.  There's a fish in the sea and the people that eat the fish blah blah but I'm just going to go right to our tigers.

So, you all know from the RAWR! facts what tigers eat, right?  If you don't, you'll need to go back to my archives or whatever and read it.  Well, lets use deers as an example.  I'm assuming everyone or anyone who happens upon this blog will know what a dear is and that it is a harbivor.

Here is the order of the cycle:

One less tiger to eat one deer

One more deer to eat grass

Less grass for all the deer

Deer venture in to people's gardens and fields

People blame deer because no crops means no food and some may kill deer

(I'm not sure of the true reason but maybe) People kill tiger to sell coat and make money to buy food

One less tiger to eat one deer


So here you are!  I throw at you the reality of the cycle!
What do you think?  Are you one of those guilty people who killed a deer then hunted for a tiger?  I hope not.  Poaching tigers is illegal.

Well, I have this slight feeling that people might be the reason to the extinction of tigers in the short run and long run.  The short run is directly killing the tiger for profit.  The long run is killing the tigers' food scorce that was a result from killing the tiger or destorying the deer's habitat.  Uh, this is such a deep and confusing cycle, isn't it?

I've been doing this thing lately and you can do it, too.  Every cent you spend on buying something tiger-related, you donate to the WWF or other organization to save the tiger.  I bought three little tiger decorative stuffed animals today and I kept the receipt so when I have enough, I'm going to donate.  Some of you out there might be too young to donate by VISA.  But if you're really into it, you can still do something about it.  Talk to your parents or make a blog, like me... or you can promote my blog on Twitter or something.

Hopefully, we won't have a humongous deer population in the near future...  This balance, this cycle, this, this, food chain better hold up.  If we have so many deer, someone might make a movie of deer invading our earth.

"The deer have over populated the human race.  We cannot survive any more.  As you can see behind me, there are hundreds, if not thousands of deer just roaming and trashing the city.  The military are doing their best to rid of some of these deer but there are absolutely too many.  The government has authorized people to pack their bags and leave the city.  The only way to rid of them all is to burn the whole city down.  I repeat, the government has authorized people to pack their bags and leave the city.  I repeat--"

SAVE THE TIGERS IF YOU WANT TO AVOID THIS

Sorry, that wasn't such as serious article... :/