It is a well-known fact that poaching activities throughout the years have led to a considerable decline in the worldwide tiger population.
However, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) now wishes to make it clear that hunting these animals' typical prey can also negatively impact on this species, even if in an indirect manner.
Representatives of this organization explain that tigers usually feed on deer, wild pigs and wild cattle, which also happen to be very much appreciated by poachers, who hunt them down and then sell them in local food markets.
Seeing how tigers are carnivores, odds are that by causing the population of the aforementioned prey species to decline, the big cats we are so eager so rescue from extinction will find their natural habitats lacking in appropriate food sources.
WWF's Newsroom reports that Mike Baltzer from Tigers Alive Initiative wished to make it as clear as possible that, “Without protecting the tiger’s prey from poaching and forest degradation, achieving the target of doubling wild tiger numbers by 2022 is impossible.”
In order to set an example with respect to what has to be done in order to restore the natural balance of existing wildlife reserves and sanctuaries, WWF is planning on implementing a rather innovative conservation program in China.
To be more precise: the organization is to try and reintroduce deer in the Wangqing Nature Reserve, which was chosen as a suitable test-area for this project because of frequent Amur tiger and Amur leopard sightings.
For those unaware, several countries today celebrate the Global Tiger Day, which is why the WWF is more determined than ever to get its message across and reach out to the public in an effort to boost the overall head-count for our planet's remaining tiger population.
A video recently released by this organization offers a more in-depth analysis on how poaching activities impact on this species. You can watch “Confessions of a Tiger Poacher” down below.
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