Tigers are threatened by poaching, wildlife trafficking, exploitation, the black market, habitat loss, prey decline, and human activity. In Asian countries, especially China, traditional medicine products made from tiger parts are in high demand. Fake sanctuaries exploit tigers for money, hiding behind claims of conservation. Places like circuses, roadside zoos, and tiger farms abuse tigers in the shadows. Laws and regulations do next to nothing to actually protect big cats. The internet, especially social media, is a breeding ground for rampant misinformation, trafficking, and abuse. Habitat destruction, usually because of human activity, is taking a massive toll on wild tiger populations across the world. Humans use land for agriculture and development, leaving little room for wild animals to roam.

THE WILD IS DYING BECAUSE CAPTIVITY IS THRIVING.

The two most important things that need to be done to save tigers are the elimination of poaching and habitat protection.

In 2010, a Tiger Summit was held in St. Petersburg, Russia between leaders of the 13 tiger range countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam. They created and adopted the Global Tiger Recovery Plan 2010 (GTRP). Their goal was to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022. The planned actions, as written by the IUCN, were:

"i) effectively preserve, manage, enhance, and protect tiger habitats;

ii) eradicate poaching, smuggling and illegal trade of tigers, their parts and derivatives;

iii) cooperate in transboundary landscape management and in combating illegal trade;

iv) engage with indigenous and local communities;

v) increase the effectiveness of tiger and habitat management; and

vi) restore tigers to their former range."

If all of this can truly be accomplished, tigers can be saved. Of special importance are the habitat restoration and the elimination of the black market. Unfortunately, not all countries were able to double their wild tiger populations by 2022, but progress has been made - and progress is still happening.

In the United States, a proposed bill called the Big Cat Public Safety Act would make private ownership of tigers and other big cats illegal without federal licensing and permits. It would also make public interaction with cubs, such as petting and playing, illegal. This act would eliminate the shady businesses that exploit animals for money, and it would prevent captive tigers in the United States being kept and bred for profit on the international black market. It is critical for the safety of big cats that this bill passes and becomes law.

There are countless organizations and nonprofits doing their part to help save big cats, such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Each of us can do our part as well. If you have the means, you can donate to the cause, but becoming educated on the issue is just as important. Making smart choices about the zoos and businesses you support, calling out people and places that do the wrong thing, and spreading awareness to others are important first steps.

Tigers are a keystone species. This means that they keep the entirety of their habitat in check with their presence. They manage the populations of their herbivore prey directly, by hunting them. This, in turn, allows the plant species to thrive. It sounds counterintuitive, but tigers keep other species alive by being an apex predator. Tigers, like other keystone species, play a large role in maintaining the biodiversity of their environments. Biodiversity is important - humans rely on a diverse environment for food, water, materials, medicines, and everything else we use. That means we need keystone species like the tiger to survive.

Saving tigers means saving land - and the land they live on is important too. There are thousands of other creatures sharing the environments that tigers live in. We would be protecting all of them as well. The land we should be protecting for tigers contains watersheds that provide for 800 million people. It's a win-win situation to save tigers, because we will be saving humans too.

There are even financial benefits to saving tigers from extinction. Tourism is a massive industry worldwide, and there are many tourists who will pay to visit places where tigers live. The communities tourists visit could be getting their main source of income from the sightseers. It creates job opportunities as well, especially in conservation work.

But saving animals should go beyond economical impact. We should save tigers because we should be good people. How can we stand to the side and cover our eyes while animals suffer? Imagine how future generations might feel if their only chance to see a tiger is a picture in a history book. We should be taking care of the Earth and its creatures so that the ones who come after us can experience it. Conservation is as simple as this: Tigers are pretty cool, and pretty much everyone likes them, so we should save them.

WE SHOULD HELP THE TIGERS BECAUSE IT'S OUR FAULT THEY'RE GOING EXTINCT.