Saturday, January 23, 2010

Saving Tigers by Adopting them

In an effort to save endangered Tigers from extinction, the officials at the Department of Forestry are planning sell some of those Tigers to rich people. Here is an article that I've quoted from Google Alert.

Indonesia to save tigers by adopting them as pets(AFP) –

JAKARTA — The Indonesian government has hatched a plan to save Sumatran tigers from extinction by allowing people to adopt captive-born animals as pets for 100,000 dollars a pair, officials said.

The forestry ministry said the plan could be put into practice as early as this year despite reservations from environmentalists, who say the focus should be on protecting habitats for the remaining 200 tigers in the wild.

"We're not selling or renting tigers. We're only authorizing people to look after them," forestry ministry conservation chief Darori told AFP.

"These people will have to follow certain conditions. The tigers will still belong to the government."

He said interested owners would have to "deposit" a billion rupiah (108,000 dollars) for a pair of tigers, which he called a "guarantee towards conservation."

The minimum area required to keep a pair would be around 60 square meters (646 square feet), although something the size of three football fields would be better, ministry officials said.

The animals' health would be monitored by government experts and mistreatment would be punished by fines or jail terms.

"Let's think of the tigers' new homes as mini-zoos," Darori said.

Another ministry official, Didi Wuryanto, dismissed fears the scheme could put a price on the heads of the few remaining wild tigers, which are nearing extinction due to habitat loss on their native Sumatra island.

Much of the jungles which the tigers' call home has been destroyed by rampant illegal logging overseen by the forestry ministry.

"The chances of people trapping Sumatran tigers alive in the wild and selling them are very low because of the high risk of getting caught and people finding out about it," Wuryanto said.

"Also, it's very hard to look after tigers trapped in the wild. They might refuse to eat and die."

He said there were about 30 captive-born tigers in Indonesia.

"This idea of selling the tigers to the public came about after several wealthy businessmen proposed buying them," Wuryanto said.

"They don't just want to own horses. They want to be acknowledged as special people with prestige, so they want to keep tigers.

"But we're not in it for the money... We want to save the tigers."


Although the officials used the word " Adoption " for the process of handing over those Tigers to rich people who want pay for them, and there are penalties for negligence, however in practice it is not easy to monitor them.
The best thing to do would be to let those Tigers stay in their own habitat but closely monitored by the Department of Forestry in cooperation with non government organizations and individuals who cared for them. If some rich people care about those Tigers they can give donations, and special visiting permit.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Wouldn't it be better to have some sort of tiger reserve and get people to sponsor the tigers there?


Regards,

peter

Unknown said...

Hard to comment on something that is just being introduced. I do believe however that animals such as tigers need special care and special knowledge.The so-called rich people are not going to do this hands-on coz they are rich an hence 'busy'. Very likely a gardener or someone will be hired to take care of this 'pet'...and consequently will be treating the pet like any other pet. And don't forget that if dogs can attack humans what more a tiger.It is better to have a tiger reserve as Kiwi Riverman said and get sponsors for them.The tigers would be better looked after by skilled and trained personnel.Safer for both,tiger and humans alike.

Unknown said...

Kiwi Riverman,

That would be a lot much better idea.
With special monitoring by people who know about the tigers, I think they'll have better chance to exist and even regenerate.

Unknown said...

Umihoney,

I fully agree with you. Because they are so busy, many rich men can't even take care of their own kids, so they hire nanny, guards, etc. How can they be expected to take care of tigers? The best way would be to place them in a special reserve for tigers. That way they would be safer for human and tiger.

Dark Temptation said...

great step, we should do something for saving our royal tigers.
http://anantos.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

Optimus Prime,

Let us hope that the Forestry Govt. will choose a way to save those tigers merely based on the very best interest of those tigers, in this case would be to place them on a protected & monitored tigers forest.

Thank you for dropping by.