"If we can't save the tiger from extinction, we can't save anything!" was repeated in a myriad of ways over the past week in Washington, DC by conservation experts from around the world. Einstein's definition of insanity is to do the same thing, over and over and expect a different result. That has been "conservation as usual" to use the slang  bantered about at this two day event that has been formally described as, "The most important conservation initiative undertaken in the history of the world to conserve wild tigers." What makes this initiative unlike all of the past programs is two fold. 39 major conservation groups, including Big Cat Rescue, have joined forces with one common goal: Save the tiger in the wild. There have been other joint efforts, but none this large and never before has an entity as powerful as the World Bank been a committed partner in saving wild places for wild animals.
Harrison Ford, one of Hollywood's hottest actors, thanks to his latest Indiana Jones movie breaking records in theaters, is on the board of Conservation International and spoke at the June 9th launch. Also in attendance were our friend, the beautiful Bo Derek, who won the Wildlife Guardian Award at the Fur Ball last year, and Robert Duvall. HSUS brought Tiger Kids to the launch and this photo is from their participation as a ITC members. See these celebrities up close and purrsonal in the most important roles of their lives in this video we shot and find out more about how the World Bank and the International Tiger Coalition plan to save the tiger.
Big Cat Rescue has been accepted into the International Tiger Coalition based upon our unique ability to address the captive issues that imperil tigers in the wild. We keep the most accurate and up to date information on tigers in captivity, from attacks, maulings and escapes to proper care for tigers who have been bred for life in cages. We will be working with the team members of the International Tiger Coalition to stop the private possession and trafficking in tigers through better laws.
The US is the largest consumer of tiger parts. As China continues to defy world policy on tiger protection through their determination to farm tigers for their parts, it would create a legal market in China for tiger bones, organs and skins. When tigers are bred for photo opportunities in the US they outgrow their usefulness in just a few short months. If the trade of tigers in China is legalized, it gives US breeders a loop hole to sell their babies into slaughterhouse situations. While such slaughter is illegal in the US it is easy for those, who are so unscrupulous as to breed tigers in the first place, to exploit.
This is how they do it:
There is no cooperation between states to track tiger movement. Those who wish to exploit this lack of governance will license themselves in two states. Each state only cares about what happens in their own jurisdiction. Once the cat crosses a state line, no one is tracking what happens next. That way they can quietly disappear. This is why people in the industry are trying so hard to stop federal laws that would require them to be accountable from birth to death.
If a cat is owned by someone in one state, who is also licensed in a second state, and they want to get rid of the cat, all they have to do is tell the state where the cat is currently located that they are sending him to their out of state facility. USDA only tracks movement of tigers (sporadically) from one owner to another and not within the same ownership, even if in two different states. No one in the other state is alerted that the cat should be arriving and typically never does. This is how the the worst of the abusers bury the trail with the cat.
If big cat breeders and dealers will use a cub and shoot them when they are through it only stands to reason that they would leap at the opportunity to sell the tiger into underground slaughterhouses. Help Big Cat Rescue and the International Tiger Coalition put an end to tiger farming HERE
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