Our big cats are very endangered. Although if they found you, they would probably eat you (!), that’s nature. We need to protect them, the main dangers being loss of habitat, climate change, trophy hunting and tiger bone used in herbal medicines. Big cats are usually bored and unhappy in zoos, so support organisations that protect them in their natural habitats. Most children spend 20 seconds looking at animals in zoos: that’s entertainment, not education.
There are a few big cats: lions (British trophy hunters have killed 60 more lions since Cecil departed this planet), jaguars (South America), leopards & panthers, cheetahs (the fastest animals on earth) and of course, tigers (just a few thousand left in the wild). Although they kill around 85 humans a year, tigers only hunt once a week and if they were targeting us, would kill 85,000 humans yearly (the fact they don’t, suggest they are only killing due to hunger or protecting their disappearing habitats).
- Use your vote to elect people serious about global warming. If you don’t vote Green, then at least vote for MPs who don’t vote to stop progressive policies on climate change, logging, fracking etc.
- Reduce your personal carbon footprint to help stop climate change. This is the most helpful thing we can do to help big cats.
- Switch to a green energy company (it only takes 10 minutes). There are quite a few green energy companies now in the UK, and they are as affordable as the big corporate companies.
- Big cats should not be in zoos. They are miserable and often too hot. Boycott zoos and donate $10 to remove a poacher’s snare instead. You can report concerns of any animals in zoos (or circuses) to Freedom for Animals & Born Free (also take pictures and tell the local police, tour operator & local animal welfare charity).
- Big cats are still hunted for fur. The problem with ‘native hunting’ is that often some of it ends up for commercial use (DNA tests have found some ‘fake fur’ in coat trim and ornaments is real fur). So always look for shops that carry the Fur Free Retailer logo.
- Ask for proof that herbal medicine is free from tiger bone (and rhino horn). These items have no medicinal value (it’s all superstitious nonsense) and yet are still used extensively.
When a man wants to murder a tiger, he calls it sport. When a tiger wants to murder a man, he calls it ferocity. George Bernard Shaw
