The Royal Bengal Tiger is classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources as an endangered species, and this is mainly because of the various threats that the tiger is subject to. The biggest threat to the tiger is the poaching and hunting that take place for its beautiful skin and body parts and the subsequent illegal trading that takes place across the borders of India, Bangladesh and Nepal. For many years, this trade was rampant and unchecked because of the low priority given by these governments to the conservation of tigers, but now they have realised that it is time to take stringent action.
Another reason for the poaching of tigers is the high demand for the body parts of the tigers in traditional Chinese medicine, which is widely administered as a muscle strengthener and treatment for rheumatism and body pain.
There is also one more major problem - that of the man- wildlife conflict. Tigers have been known to attack cattle on farms that are adjacent to the forests, and farmers, to protect their livestock, resort to gunning down these tigers. These counter attacks by farmers account for a large percentage of the total tigers that are killed every year. Tigers may also attack humans and the tigers of the Sunderbans, being famous for it, have earned the dubious title of “man-eaters”. However, tigers venture out of the forest only if their regular prey is not available, which mainly takes place due to extensive forest destruction for creating farmlands. Also, it is only when tigers are old or sick, or when young tigers lose their teeth and claws in fights, that they resort to man-eating and cattle attacks, because the prey is more easily available in these cases.
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