Essay on Preserving Our Natural Heritage: The Conservation of Royal Bengal Tigers and Endangered Species

Introduction

The Royal Bengal tiger is one of the biggest cats that are roaming the earth. The tiger can be located in two countries, namely Bangladesh and India. In Bangladesh, this magnificent cat can be located in the Sundarbans and the Chittagong Hill forests. These carnivores must be protected since they offer many advantages.

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For decades, the royal Bengal tigers have been a vital facet of the ecosystem since they have ensured a constant supply of ecological services crucial for human beings' survival. Remember, tigers are predators; hence they are continually looking for prey to eat. The hunting by these tigers ensures that there is a balance in the ecosystem a process that is likely to be affected if these carnivores go extinct (U. Ahmad et al., 2009).

Tigers have benefited the people of Bangladesh via tourism. Tourism is an essential factor in the growth and development of a nation. The royal Bengal tigers have attracted tourists from all over the world, which has generated a lot of revenue and income for Bangladesh. Moreover, employment has been created in this industry (U. Ahmad et al., 2009).

It cannot be denied that these animals give society many benefits. The bizarre thing is that these animals have become endangered. Over the last ten years, the population of these magnificent carnivores has been steadily decreasing. It has caused considerable worry to conservatives around the world.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature has declared these animals as endangered species, meaning they are likely to disappear from the face of the earth if no action is taken. Various reasons can be attributed to the decline of these carnivores. Poaching and trading of the tigers' skins have immensely contributed to their reduction in numbers.

Bangladesh authorities have been having a hard time dealing with this menace since the people do not report such matters. The royal Bengal tigers have suffered demise as a result of retribution by human beings. At times there exist conflicts between animals and human beings, mainly when the tiger kills livestock, which often leads to the killing of tigers as revenge.

Like human beings, the royal Bengal tiger is also affected by the disease, which often leads to death if the animal's health does not improve. In Bangladesh, most captive tigers have perished from diseases like Avian Influenza, Canine Distemper, Feline Calicivirus, Tuberculosis, and Dirofilaria. Furthermore, Tigers are also affected by depression, which is a result of inbreeding.

Therefore diseases have significantly impacted the population of the royal Bengal tiger. The depletion of prey in the ecosystem has tremendously affected the numbers of these animals. The main prey for these tigers is deer. Sadly deer are also affected by diseases and poaching, which have massively reduced their numbers.

Thus when food becomes scarce, it affects the way the tigers survive in the ecosystem. There exist various solutions to addressing the different threats to the existence of the royal Bengal tiger. Firstly, to reduce the conflict between humans and tigers, there is deployment of a rescue team that mainly assists affected humans (U. Ahmad et al., 2009). For instance, the rescue team in Bangladesh has been created to transport victims of tiger attacks to hospitals and assist them in any way they can to prevent further harm (U. Ahmad et al., 2009).

These teams ensure that the tigers do not kill the livestock or wander into villages. The rescue team has established a hotline number that people can be able to get to them. The rescue team's actions have significantly reduced the human-tiger conflict and prevented the loss of tigers via retaliation (U. Ahmad et al., 2009).

Secondly, the threat of prey depletion has reduced the population of tigers in Bangladesh. Many reasons cause the reduction of prey, the main one being climate change. Climate change has affected every region around the globe. It has led to extreme weather conditions like floods, droughts, cyclones, and tornados, which cause havoc in the ecosystem (U. Ahmad et al., 2009).

In Bangladesh, climate change has led to resources that support the prey to become scarce. The scarcity of resources has led to many deer deaths, thus directly affecting the food supply of the tigers in Bangladesh. In combating this adverse effect brought about by climate change, society must adopt policies that will mitigate the effects (U. Ahmad et al., 2009).

For instance, countries should adopt the Paris Agreement against climate change, which has given provisions on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, which is often the catalyst for climate change. In this regard, Bangladesh adopted several policies to help it mitigate and reduce the effects of climate change (U. Ahmad et al., 2009).

Thirdly, the threat of poaching and trading of tigers has also contributed to the reduction in tigers. Wildlife trafficking can be addressed in several ways. The best way is to deploy a security team to protect the animals. For instance, in Bangladesh, there is a wildlife control unit whose mandate is to ensure that poaching or any other illegal activities are not going on in forests where these royal Bengal tigers live ("Bengal Tiger | National Geographic", n.d.).

Methodology

The study will analyze the royal Bengal tigers in Bangladesh examine the reasons for their decline in number and present the best solution to counter it. This study is qualitative and thus will review various literature on the matter and analyze if they provide the best solution to the problem

Literature Review

In the 1950s, over 100000 rhinos were roaming the extensive savannahs of Kenya ("Lewa Conservancy Annual Report", 2015). It made Kenya the largest habitat of rhinos all over the world. As time went by, the population of rhinos in Kenya reduced drastically. The number went from hundreds of thousands to about 300 rhinos ("Lewa Conservancy Annual-Report", 2015).

The Kenyan government had to act quickly since the rhinos were becoming extinct. The Kenyan government analyzed the issue, and they stated that poaching was the main reason for the reduction in the rhino population. It led to the creation of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya, which had the mandate of protecting the population of rhinos in the country ("Rhinos - Lewa Wildlife Conservancy", n.d.).

The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is a non-profit organization. Thus its main objective is to take care of wildlife. The Lewa Conservancy adopted a community-centric conservancy method to ensure the survival of the rhino population in Kenya. The method involves the incorporation of the local people in the protection and conservation of the rhinos (Prins et al., 2000).

Furthermore, the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy has worked with several other partners in Africa to ensure that the rhinos are protected. For instance, they collaborated with Kenya Wildlife Services, which helped them ensure that poaching and wildlife trade in Kenya came to an end. Since the conservancy started, there has been an increase in the population of rhinos by 169 ("Lewa Conservancy Annual-Report", 2015).

It is a significant achievement for the conservancy considering the amount of work put in to ensure that these rhinos do not go extinct. For instance, the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy has educated the local community on the importance of rhinos to a country. They have also contributed to helping the women in the local communities with finances to ensure that they can provide for themselves and their families ("Lewa Conservancy Annual-Report", 2015).

This virtue, helps the locals to take part and protect the endangered rhinos in Kenya. The impact of the conservation program has borne tremendous fruits in Kenya. For instance, since the year 2013, there have been zero cases of poaching of rhinos in Kenya, which shows that the conservancy is dedicated to ensuring that the rhinos' survival is guaranteed ("Lewa Conservancy Annual-Report", 2015).

In the 1960s, the population of African mountain gorillas in East Africa was over 10000, but now since 1996, it reduced drastically to less than 3000. These animals are located in the forests of Uganda, Rwanda, and the democratic republic of Congo ("The Implications of Global Climate Change for Mountain Gorilla Conservation", n.d.). The last census taken by the wildlife agency of Virunga National Park puts the population at about 1000. It caused worry in the world that these mountain gorillas may go extinct if no action was taken. Therefore the International Gorilla Conservation Programme was created to ensure that these gorillas are protected.

The main threat to the experience of the mountain gorillas is political instability, which is often experienced in the region, especially in the democratic republic of Congo ("The Implications of Global Climate Change for Mountain Gorilla Conservation", n.d.). There are also many threats to their survival, like poaching, diseases, encroachment, and forest degradation. The diseases which affect these animals include pneumonia, flu, and Ebola.

In combating these magnificent animals' extinction, the African Wildlife Foundation bought land near the Virunga National Park and donated it to the government of Rwanda to ensure that there is a conservancy set up to protect the mountain gorillas. This piece of real estate's primary purpose was to ensure that a gorilla conservancy is set up and ready to host the endangered species ("The world’s largest living primate is in critical danger", n.d.).