SAVE supports tiger protection in India

Although the tiger in India is under the legal protection, dramatic reports on tigers killed in India seem to come thick and fast: In late April, a tiger was found dead with its legs caught in a steel trap. As a result the area is more strictly guarded and many poachers' traps were removed.
On May 30th in the morning, the SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund received a message from its partner foundation, the Satpuda Foundation, that a tiger was found dead near Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR); the carcass of this tiger was chopped into 11 pieces with its head missing.

So after these dramatic events that seem to be a continuation of cruel series of poaching cases the SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund decided to take an action and support the Saptuta Foundation financially, because the tiger is classified as threatened with extinction, according to the ICUN Red List. There are only 1200 – 1700 tigers on the entire Indian subcontinent.

The goal of both conservation foundations is to improve the tiger protection strategies that do not seem to work properly– although the Government of India claims that it is a matter of national policy.
One of the major problems is a great demand for tiger bones being used in the practice of traditional Chinese medicine. Presumably, the aforesaid tigers were killed for just this reason. This is indicated by the fact that the founded carcasses were deboned. The bones were missing.

Another problem is a conflict between farmers and predators, similar to that in Africa: prowling tigers are often poisoned, mostly by poor local farmers, who do not benefit in any way from tiger conservation and tiger tourism. One of the most important measures for protecting the wild cats is to involve the local communities. SAVE has made that experience when working on the big cats’ conservation projects in Africa and will further develop these ideas in collaboration with its partner foundation, the Saptuta Foundation.