Act now to give the tiger a way to live

Vietnam only has about 30 tigers left in the wild. If we don't act hard, 2010 will be the last year of the wild tiger.

The latest tiger photo in Vietnam was taken 13 years ago in Pu Mat National Park.Photo: WWF.

The world has only about 3,200 tigers left in the wild and they are facing increasing risks - including loss of habitat, illegal hunting and climate change. Historically, the number of tigers in the Mekong sub-region is quite large. But today there are only about 350 surviving tigers in this area. Vietnam alone has only about 30 tigers. The International Nature Conservation Fund (WWF) predicts that in the year of tiger in 2022, tigers will disappear completely in the Mekong Sub-region. Thus, without strong human measures, 2010 will be the last year of tiger that exists in the wild environment.

The Year of the Tiger in 2010 may be marked as the year of survival for wild tigers in Vietnam. Although it is difficult to count exactly how many tigers in the wild, but all scientists agree that Vietnam's population of wild tigers has been severely reduced in the last two decades. . The most recent picture of tigers in Vietnam was taken 13 years ago (1997, in Pu Mat National Park).

2010 is also the year that tiger's fate is more concerned than ever in the world. The World Bank (WB) is implementing the 'Global Tiger Initiative' which includes a tiger summit in Kathmandu in 2009, a ministerial meeting in Hua Hin, Thailand last January and culminating in National leaders' summit in Vladivostok in September 2010 chaired by the director of the World Bank Robert Zoellick and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Vietnam attended the Ministerial Meeting in Hua Hin, where members attending the Hua Hin Declaration expressed consensus in strengthening efforts to prevent the decline of tiger numbers and support. the recovery of the habitat that the tiger lives.

To show this determination, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Vietnam said that Vietnam needs to solve three major problems to keep tigers in the wild:

- Strict management of farms, confine tigers to ensure this captivity supports tiger conservation efforts in nature.

- Immediately shut down farms, confine tigers to carry out trade in tigers and products from them as this seriously violates international and Vietnamese laws. According to the Environmental Police data, there are currently 97 tiger individuals kept in private facilities in Vietnam.

- Stop the consumption of tiger products - such as decorations, medicines - and even review the medicinal pharmacopoeia currently in use in medicine that promotes the use of tiger products.

- Strictly managing wildlife trade through the southern and northern borders. Reducing illegal trading activities not only helps to restore tiger populations in Vietnam but also restore tiger populations in the surrounding areas.

According to WCS, each individual can also help tigers in Vietnam survive the next five Tigers, by:

- Do not consume tiger products in any form.

- Notify authorities when detecting "thirty" killings

2010 is the only chance left for tiger survival in the wild when countries and large organizations like WB sit together to come up with tiger conservation policies. This is a time for nations - including Vietnam - and every citizen to act to open the tiger to a way of life.