It is a widely known fact that the Tiger (Panthera tigris) is India's national animal, due to its colours (orange and white skin, and its green forest habitat) that also appear in the national flag. In that case, it should also be the most populated animal in the country as well. Well, that is how it was for a very long time. Over the past century, these majestic creatures have been hunted down - from about 100,000 to a few thousand as of 2013. Despite all conservation efforts, the population continues to decline. Some extinct subspecies of tigers are the Caspian, Javan and Bali tigers. There are only a few hundred living Sumatran tigers, which is listed as "critically endangered" by the IUCN.
As we all know, the main causes for the tiger's population decline includes habitat destruction and poaching, as their body parts like their claws, teeth and skin sell well in the black market. Even worse, some sadistic people during the British Raj hunted and murdered tigers for years just as a sport, or because they considered them malicious. The creatures also reproduce extremely slowly and attempts to mate have often proven disastrous, with the tigers sometimes killing each other, increasing the chance of extinction. Sometimes the parent tigers "accidentally" kill their offsprings by gnawing them when they mean to lift them, or by rolling over them. It is sad that tigers, despite having good intelligence, fail to realise that they are endangered.
Not only do the tiger's skin colours represent the Republic of India, but even because the creature's strength, majestic and courageous character. An example comes in the film Life of Pi, where Pi Patel (Suraj Sharma) was so closely attached to the tiger Richard Parker despite its ferocious characteristics, he preferred it over the less ferocious hyena that also appears in the film. In fact, he loved the tiger, which is what kept him alive for the 227 days he spent stranded on the boat at sea.
When people refuse to believe Pi's story with the tiger, he narrates a different story which involves him and humans instead of animals, in the form of a Buddhist sailor, his mother and a cruel cook. The cook symbolises the hyena by killing the sailor and Pi's mother (who represent the zebra and orangutan that accompanied Pi in the boat, before being killed by the hyena), and Pi symbolises the tiger by killing the cook (mirroring the tiger killing the hyena). Thus, Pi compares himself to a tiger.
So if tiger hunting is as illegal as possession of narcotics, it is better they be left alone or be protected as long as they are alive, for killing a tiger is like killing the pride of the nation.
As we all know, the main causes for the tiger's population decline includes habitat destruction and poaching, as their body parts like their claws, teeth and skin sell well in the black market. Even worse, some sadistic people during the British Raj hunted and murdered tigers for years just as a sport, or because they considered them malicious. The creatures also reproduce extremely slowly and attempts to mate have often proven disastrous, with the tigers sometimes killing each other, increasing the chance of extinction. Sometimes the parent tigers "accidentally" kill their offsprings by gnawing them when they mean to lift them, or by rolling over them. It is sad that tigers, despite having good intelligence, fail to realise that they are endangered.
Not only do the tiger's skin colours represent the Republic of India, but even because the creature's strength, majestic and courageous character. An example comes in the film Life of Pi, where Pi Patel (Suraj Sharma) was so closely attached to the tiger Richard Parker despite its ferocious characteristics, he preferred it over the less ferocious hyena that also appears in the film. In fact, he loved the tiger, which is what kept him alive for the 227 days he spent stranded on the boat at sea.
When people refuse to believe Pi's story with the tiger, he narrates a different story which involves him and humans instead of animals, in the form of a Buddhist sailor, his mother and a cruel cook. The cook symbolises the hyena by killing the sailor and Pi's mother (who represent the zebra and orangutan that accompanied Pi in the boat, before being killed by the hyena), and Pi symbolises the tiger by killing the cook (mirroring the tiger killing the hyena). Thus, Pi compares himself to a tiger.
So if tiger hunting is as illegal as possession of narcotics, it is better they be left alone or be protected as long as they are alive, for killing a tiger is like killing the pride of the nation.
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