Question

3,200 Left on Earth

Efforts to save the tiger from extinction will be stepped up this year after the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) placed the animal at the top of its list of the most endangered species.

Conservationists say there are just 3,200 tigers left in the world as the future of the species is threatened by poachers, destruction of their habitat and climate change. This means that the world population of tigers has fallen by 95 per cent in the past century.

Tiger numbers have dwindled as a result of activities by humans. Demand for tiger skins, still regarded as luxury items in some countries, has left them at the mercy of poachers who have increasingly targeted the animals. The threat is compounded by the market for their body parts, which are considered to hold medicinal properties in some cultures. Poachers also hunt many species which are the prey of tigers, diminishing their natural food supply, and forcing them to attack farmers' livestock instead. At the same time, destruction of forests for timber, agriculture and road building has forced tigers into ever smaller areas where they are increasingly vulnerable. Climate change also poses a growing threat - 70 per cent of the Bengal tiger's remaining habitat in the Sunderbans mangrove forest may be lost within 50 years owing to rising sea levels.

The WWF said it intends to intensify pressure to save the tiger by classifying it as the most at risk on its list of 10 critically endangered animals. It hopes to increase patrols and work with politicians to eradicate poaching and prevent illegal trade of tiger skins and body parts. The wildlife charity aims to work with governments to promote more responsible forest management. It also wants them to provide compensation for farmers whose livestock are killed by tigers, to prevent them being hunted.

Of the nine main subspecies of tigers, three - the Bali, Caspian and Java tigers - are now extinct, and there has been no reliable sighting of a fourth, the South China tiger, for 25 years. Only the Bengal, Amur, Indo-Chinese, Sumatran and Malayan tigers remain but their numbers have been reduced to a few hundred per species, apart from the Bengal and Indo-Chinese species.

To save the tiger, we have to save its habitat, which is also home to many other threatened species. So, if we get things right and save the tiger, we will also save many other species at the same time.


QUESTION

Now assume you are a Forest Officer in a National Park and a group of new employees have joined the Forest services. Write a speech in about 250-300 words for them about the advantages of tiger tourism and the problems it may cause, according to the Passage?

USE THIS POINTS IN YOUR SPEECH
The advantages of tiger tourism:
It brings a huge number of tourists to India/main focus of India’s tourist marketing.
It makes people more aware of the tiger’s dangerous situation/endangered status.
It encourages local villagers to guard against poaching/anti-poaching patrols.
Money is available to pay villagers back for loss of livestock.
It helps pay for building fences to protect livestock.
It has helped to reintroduce tigers.

What problems it may cause:
It leads to large crowds of people in the parks.
People ignore rules about getting too close.
Building roads/buildings in parks disturbs the tigers.
Some tour guides drive badly/too fast.
Tourists can be placed in dangerous/risky situations.

Answer 1

Explanation:

It makes people more aware of the tiger’s dangerous situation/endangered status.

It encourages local villagers to guard against poaching/anti-poaching patrols.

Money is available to pay villagers back for loss of livestock.

It helps pay for building fences to protect livestock.

It has helped to reintroduce tigers.

What problems it may cause:

It leads to large crowds of people in the parks.

People ignore rules about getting too close.

Building roads/buildings in parks disturbs the tigers.

Some tour guides drive badly/too fast.

Tourists can be placed in dangerous/risky situations