| The tiger. Pretty much everyone knows what a | | | | was interesting though is that they found the |
| tiger is and looks like. They are also in trouble | | | | "source" of the fake photographs to be a poster, |
| number wise, with their populations dwindling due | | | | yet the photographs the villager took seemed to |
| to us humans encroaching on their home ranges. | | | | be of a moving tiger. This leads to an interesting |
| There is one species of tiger though that is in | | | | predicament. Obviously, the poster does not have |
| much more trouble. In fact, these tigers are in so | | | | a moving tiger embedded in it, so how was the |
| much trouble that there are fewer than 20 left in | | | | man able to take a photo of a moving tiger? That |
| the wild. There's more pets in three households | | | | exact question has led some to wonder on the |
| combined than there are these tigers in the wild. | | | | real motives behind the government. Would it be |
| This tiger is called the south china tiger. Aside | | | | that they just don't want to attract attention to |
| from being the most endangered it is also one of | | | | the tiger? Thinking it might be better for the |
| the smallest tiger subspecies. | | | | people if these wonderful animals were put to the |
| The south china tiger has always been persecuted | | | | death penalty? Whatever the real reason, it |
| as a pest by the Chinese people. The tigers would | | | | seems like it will go unknown. |
| find their way into farms and feed on livestock, | | | | Regardless of the politics, it may already be to |
| and sometimes the people themselves, causing | | | | late to save these tigers. As of now there are a |
| the Chinese government to start many anti-pest | | | | few breeding programs for captive south china |
| campaigns. These campaigns were much more | | | | tigers but their natural homes have been so |
| successful than planned and numbers dropped at | | | | depleted of space and prey that it would be |
| an incredible rate. In 1977 the government | | | | difficult to relocate them. There was a south china |
| instated a ban on hunting these tigers, but by | | | | tiger cub born in Africa back in 2007 named Tiger |
| then it had been to late. The populations seem to | | | | Woods Jr. and is said to be one of the first times |
| have collapsed and genetic diversity dwindled | | | | these tigers have reproduced outside of China. |
| down to nothing, making them virtually extinct | | | | Hopefully he has the same luck as his namesake |
| predators. | | | | in finding other female tigers because as of now, |
| These majestic tigers used to make their home in | | | | these poor animals are considered "functionally |
| the forests of Southern China, yet none have | | | | extinct". We need to be able to take this and |
| been spotted there since the last decade. The | | | | learn from it as a whole so that history will not |
| estimate of 20 tigers left in the wild is purely | | | | repeat itself with another majestic species. We |
| anectodotal evidence with nothing truly solid. In | | | | don't want any more extinct predators on our |
| fact, a villager claimed to take multiple photos of | | | | hands, or any other extinct animals for that |
| a tiger back in October 2007. After heavy | | | | matter. It can just take one link in the chain to |
| investigation, these pictures were deemed a scam | | | | snap for the rest to collapse. |
| and the photographer was arrested in 2008. What | | | | |