Poachers are pushing tigers in India toward extinction, feeding a growing demand at pharmacies and fur shops in China and Japan for illicit products derived from endangered animals. A few weeks ago, park rangers in India’s Madhya Pradesh state recovered a carcass tentatively identified as Sita, a famous tiger that had been featured on the cover of National Geographic and in numerous documentaries. Raids within the last month have also turned up dozens of tiger skins and claws, shocking Indian wildlife officials who were already very troubled about the tiger’s future. Fears are growing that India, home to 60 percent of the estimated 5,000 to 7,000 tigers remaining in the wild, is losing the battle for the animal’s survival. Enforcement of India’s wildlife laws is lax, and shrinking habitat and declines in the tiger’s natural prey are also taking their toll.
