A rather guilty looking Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) holds the freshly destroyed end of a toy given by handlers at the Australia Zoo.

When I was visiting the Australia Zoo a tiger presentation was held every day much like that in the Crocoseum. Hosts would enter the enclosure with the tigers, which were hand-raised to feel comfortable around people and encouraged to perform fun activities to demonstrate their power and natural abilities. It is all part of the Australia Zoo's enrichment program that encourage the animals to be active and happy. The tigers were also given toys to play with if the mood struck them; however, many of the toys were quickly destroyed.

When the toys finally met their end, handlers would take them away from the big cats. Occasionally, the tigers would give them up without much protest, but more often than not possessiveness was evident. This beautiful girl here was quite intent on keeping the toy for herself, even though she knew the handlers were going to take it away from her. This photo is of her looking up at her handlers as they hold and tap the other end, which is a taught signal for her to let go. She was stubborn, but a few minutes later she let go and found another toy to destroy.

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Tigers are the largest of the big cats and are exclusively found in Asia from India to Vietnam, from Indonesia to the Russian Far East. The tiger can be divided into 9 subspecies: 4 are currently critically endangered and 3 are already extinct. Though estimations of tiger populations only a few years ago was 5,500-6,000, today populations are likely closer to 3,500 and are still declining. Dramatic declines of the tiger in India, thought to host the majority of the world's tigers, have fallen to less than 1,411. Overall, the past decade has seen a 40% reduction in tiger habitat, which now represents a mere 7% of its historic range. Poaching is a significant problem throughout the tiger's range, the demand for its body parts in traditional medicines, tonics, and exotic dishes driving a lucrative trade that is wiping out entire populations. Long-term threats include habitat fragmentation and prey depletion, which is accelerating the tiger's demise and subsequently reducing the long-term genetic viability of many populations.

If you want to help, the best for you to do is to educate yourself (http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/tigers/), never buy products made from tigers or endangered species (http://www.wildaid.org), and tell others. Contact me for more information.

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