Eco Holidays

posted by Catherine on Apr 9

Would You Buy A Tiger Cub?

The trade in live animals and animal parts is one of the most active in the world – and only people like you can stop it by refusing to buy any animal parts or any live animals – and by reporting anything you see that is suspicious to the WWF

Live Animals:
Even if it is legal to import live animals into your home country – why would you do so?

They will no doubt be live caught (with parents and siblings often killed to collect them) and will have been badly handled and possibly smuggled in tiny spaces to you or your seller. The rates of survival on these journeys are very low, so for every animal that arrives, huge numbers could have died along the way.

As the animal is not endemic to your country, it may well need imported foods or specific diets and nutrients that you may be unaware of, equipment to maintain the correct humidity and temperature (which you might not even know yourself) and no doubt any illness or disease it has already got or may pick up from your end may not be treatable by a local vet as they have no experience or the veterinary equipment and medications to treat it.

And most obviously, if you brought one, then someone else might want one therefore creating or increasing the numbers caught and traded. You are perpetuating the cycle of death and destruction of species and habitat.

Stuffed Animals:
For the same reason – be wary of buying stuffed animals that are endangered species.

We all know that the rarer something becomes – the more it is worth, so by buying even a really old stuffed animal that has since become endangered you are letting that vendor know that there is a demand for whatever it was. It may well encourage him to find someone to supply him with another one……

Traditional Medicines:
There is no scientific proof that traditional medicines are effective against disease or can increase your fertility. It’s like your bank manager telling you how to make loads of money with shares and investments – when if he knew how to make loads of money – why is he still working in a bank rather than in a big mansion on a desert island?

However, most traditional medicines are made with animal parts – and many of these animals – like tigers – are endangered. There is no need for you to try any of these treatments as you are very likely encouraging illegal poaching and trapping.

And as with most ‘natural’ remedies that sound to good to be true – they probably are. Surely if there really was a part of an animal that really did prevent disease almost 100% of the time – do you not think that medicine would be available worldwide rather than in some tiny backstreet store outside of town??

Any Unidentified Animal Parts:
If you really want to do everything you can to avoid encouraging illegal wildlife poaching, then avoid buying anything made of or by any animal.

Just as the sale of leather from cows is a by-product of the beef and dairy industry, so the sale of teeth, bones and fur, feathers and quills can be the by-products of other trades.

It is a minefield out there, so you need to be quite broad with your shopping choices no matter how pretty or ‘amazing’ that souvenir is – because it would look a lot better if it was still alive!

And remember no matter how bad the trade is – if you buy it – they will make more. Just look at McDonalds!!!

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posted by Catherine on Apr 1

Should you buy anything ‘animal’ when on holiday?

As with all retail, there is a certain aspect of personal choice, but if you want to make sure that your holiday souvenirs don’t end up destroying local habitats or result in the deaths of endangered species – then you need to shop a lot more carefully!

It’s no good saying that you won’t buy anything that says it is an endangered species – because lets be honest, 1) would anyone really boast about it being illegal, or 2) could you tell if that bone was from a threatened rhino or a pet goat anyway?

Why Not Just One……
And as with all products of any type – it will only be made again if people are buying it.

If a bar of chocolate was made that tasted awful and didn’t sell – you can almost guarantee that no-one will be making anymore of it – ever. And it is the same with any product: if it doesn’t sell – they won’t make any more.

So, there is no good argument anymore for saying ‘well the elephant is already dead, so I may as well buy it rather than let it go to waste’ – because if a business owner just managed to sell a whole shop load of elephant ivory – he will think he can sell another one – so bang: there goes another dead elephant!

Shop owners can also lie about the origin of their items making you believe that the endangered monkey species is just the flesh of a common species or a local pest, or that the exquisite jewelry is from a sustainable source not a threatened species of turtle who’s numbers are dwindling!

The Main Culprits:
There are 12 headings below and in further articles – containing the generally agreed items that you should avoid buying abroad, and they include:

Ebony & Other Hardwoods:
No matter how beautiful that wood-carving is – it could be from a protected species. Not only will the seller have to go out and chop down another tree to replace your purchase, it is also possible that your ‘gift’ wil be confiscated on return to your home country as well. A wasted effort all round!

And it’s not just the trees that suffer. By felling woodlands in any area, you could be affecting all the wildlife and local communties that rely on it. Degradation of the area can also lead to gradual habitat loss as the soil is eroded or exposed – permanently affecting the whole area.

Ivory:
Anything made of ivory has virtually always come from a protected animal – usually just killed for that one reason. Although there are large amounts of ‘legal’ ivory available, you will almost certainly be offered the illegal kind as a tourist. And why even buy it when you know that 1) it is from a endangered species, and 2) that you could be causing a continuation of the illegal trade as a result of your consumer demand.

Reptile Skins:
These are very hard to distinguish from each other and so you need to not buy any to be sure. Why would the seller travel miles to kill a common lizard to make into a belt, when the endangered species he lives next door to looks exactly the same once it has been treated?

He wouldn’t, so don’t trust his sources or labelling. Between 2000 and 2004 in the UK over 800 illegal wildlife items were caught entering the country – most were from crocodiles and alligators. There are currently 37 species of threatened or endangered reptiles just in the US alone – so even in developed countries there are risks!

Big Cat Skins:
Need I explain this one?

Yes they look fantastic – and that’s why we love wildlife – but please leave the skin on the animal rather than on your floor or worse still – in a storage box as you changed your mind about the decor!

Come back for Part 2 – For objects that should be in the oceans not in your jewelry box!

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posted by Catherine on Feb 28

After years and years of campaigning – we are still trying to save the tiger!

Some species have been saved in recent years – for example the Amur Tiger which was basically brought back from extinction in the 1940′s.

There were an estimated 40 Amur Tigers left in the wild when a project was set up to reverse this dangerous trend – and it has taken over 60 years for the population to reach today’s figure of around 500 tigers today. It wasn’t easy and it leaves the species open to a genetic bottleneck where there is such a small gene pool for future generations. But the animals live on.

We can stop this happening to other species of tiger in the world if we start now, and do it properly!

Tigers 2009.
It is estimated that there are now only around 4000-7000 wild tigers left in the wild today. This is very low compared to recent history.

There are now only 5% of the total number of tigers that have lived in the past on earth today, with the stronghold being in India. It’s historic range – the area where it previously lived has shrunk by 93%, leaving only restricted pockets across the Asian continent.

As with many other species – they are illegally poached. Tigers are hunted and killed for their amazing skins and for apparently ‘medicinal purposes’. However, they are being wiped out faster than they can breed and of course the rarer they become – the more they are worth so it is a self-perpetuating spiral!

Another reason their numbers are dwindling is their competition with humans. They compete for the land and the resources, and unfortunately the humans are winning! When the tigers land is taken or destroyed by humans, the tigers will sometimes need to pass close to settlements and of course if they are hungry they will take livestock. Can you blame them?

However, it is not always livestock that become prey – many humans have lost their lives as these two forces are pushed closer together. If things are going to change, it must benefit the communities as well as the tigers.

What Can We Do?
Well, there are many groups set up and campaigning for the protection of the remaining tiger populations, and many of these are also trying to tackle the human aspect of this environment too.

Preserve:
Saving and protecting the tiger refuges are just a small part of this, as you also need to protect their prey species too, and the food and environment of that prey species. I mean you can’t save the tiger if the deer it eats aren’t there.

Educate:
By working with local farmers to better protect their livestock, charities hope it will reduce the risk of a tiger attack and lessen the conflict of retaliation. Offering a range of different crops and trades to farmers and their families should help to reduce their dependency on livestock and the environment by reducing the need to deplete local resources and ultimately making their lives more sustainable.

Protect:
Stopping or reducing the poaching is also a priority, and TRAFFIC and other charities and NGO’s are petitioning to increase fines and sentencing for poachers that are caught. They are also trying to reduce the market for tiger parts so a dead tiger is worth less.

Improve:
Increasing the money made from seeing the tigers alive is a major advance in the area. If local people are employed in tourism to show them that people are willing to pay big money to see the animals alive, they will do more to keep them alive. A single tiger killed will make money only once – a living tiger will make money every day it is alive. If it breeds, it will only multiply that money for future generations.

Large Scale:
Work with larger businesses and international companies to look elsewhere for resources or to use the land with alternative business. For example, reducing the clearing of forests for palm oil plantations, and increasing tourism-related enterprises.

Tourism is the reason that the tigers and national parks are even here in the first place. If no-one was paying to see them – they probably wouldn’t exist! By advertising travel and tiger safaris to these regions should help to increase their protection and their numbers.

Wildlife Ranger Course:
There is a 12 day full-board trip currently available for you to train as a wildlife ranger (www.discoveryinitiatives.co.uk) in India for around US$3700per person including a $43 contribution to the Global Tiger Patrol.

The cost involves travel to several wildlife refuges – one of which is rarely visited by tourists! You get to see the tigers themselves as well as spend time with local communities debating both sides of the issue. It’s very easy to sit at home and tell people what they should and shouldn’t do – but you only see the whole story when you are actually there.

Can you imagine your reaction if Hindu Indian officials were campaigning to stop us farming their sacred cow in the UK? They would be telling us that we can’t eat beef, drink milk, ferment cheese or wear leather. They will think this is so obvious and easy to do. Just as we can’t believe that anyone would ever think of cutting down a rain forest or killing an extremely rare and beautiful tiger, they probably can’t believe that we would kill a cow and then wear it!

Different cultures believe different things and act in different ways. Ultimately, we are all trying to make a living and keep our family safe – but we all have different challenges and deal with them in different ways. And this course is your chance to step into someone else’s shoes and see how they fit!

It’s not only just about the tigers either – you get to see the whole ecosystem – wolves, jackals, leopards and many more predators all live in the same area – all looking for different prey, but all ultimately dependant on each other. Take one of the fantastic night walks to really see the wildlife!

There are many other trips to the area to see the tigers – but make sure that some of the money actually stays in the area of goes to a sustainable and well recognised charity or other organisation – as unfortunately, many are just like package holidays – with all the money staying in the west and none actually going to fund tiger conservation!

If you can’t take this trip, then you can still contribute by contacting WWF and making a donation, becoming a member, sponsoring a tiger or by requesting tickets for their upcoming Tiger Raffle.

Can you help?

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