Shoot to Kill Tiger Poachers in Indian State of Maharashtra
Monday, July 16, 2012 at 12:01AM
Bengal tiger in Rantgambhore National Park. Photo by: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen via MongaBay.com
How bad is tiger poaching?
This bad: in the Indian state of Maharashtra, the government just granted immunity to any forest ranger who shoots a poacher.
Maharashtra in IndiaIf that sounds cruel, consider this: since the beginning of the year, some 50 Bengal tigers have been found dead in India, roughly as many as in all of 2011, with the highest number killed in a tiger reserve in Maharashtra. “The situation is critical and we are taking several emergency measures,” India’s tiger conservationist authority said in a statement, according to reporting by Mongabay.com.
Tigers are poached for their parts, which are believed to have medicinal value by many in Asia.
To learn more, read this Mongabay story.
