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Tigers
at the Watering Hole
30
x 22", acrylic on silk
"At
the beginning of the century there was an estimated population of
100,000 tigers spread across Asia. From Turkey in the west across to
Bali in the southeast, and north to Siberia, the tiger ruled the
forests. Today, only 100 years later, mankind has decimated this
population down to less than 7,000. These remaining tigers are
spread out across Asia in tiny islands of forests at the mercy of
people and poachers.
Out
of the eight tiger subspecies, three are already extinct: the
Caspian, the Javan, and the Bali tiger. The South China tiger is
virtually gone with only few dozen animals left. Two more are balancing
on the edge, the Siberian and the Sumatran, each subspecies having
approximately 500 animals left. The Indo Chinese is not far behind
with its numbers between 1000 and 1700.
The
Cat Specialist Group reported 2,750 to 3,750 Bengal tigers in India
in 1994. These tigers are distributed among 66 protected areas, of
which more than 20 fall under the umbrella of Project Tiger, a
program based on total protection of tigers and conservation of
selected habitats as reserves managed primarily for tigers. Another
150-250 tigers live in three protected areas in Nepal, 50-240 tigers
are in four protected areas in Bhutan, about 300-460 tigers live in
three protected areas in Bangladesh, and an unknown number of tigers
remain in Myanmar. Although the wild Bengal tiger populations are
considered more secure in India than other tiger subspecies found
elsewhere in Asia, there exists the potential for rapid demise of
the wild population through recently increased levels of poaching
and poisoning.
As
an artist I hope to make people conscious of the need to protect the
tiger and the elephant before they disappear altogether from Asia
like many other animals."
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