For all Tigers (see story below)

For all Tigers (see story below), originally uploaded by Talking Point.

I was so upset this evening to hear about the pregnant Bengal tiger chased and stoned by up to 1000 angry villagers in India. The tiger was chased up a tree after being injured by rocks and sticks pelted by the mob. Villagers then attempted to set the tree on fire whilst guards tranquilised the tiger in an attempt to safely remove it back to it's natural environment.

Certainly the villagers need to protect themselves and there is no question of that. However does it really take 1000 villagers to chase away one solitary tiger? The footage is truly disturbing.

In their fervour, the villagers even injured the guards trying to save the tiger. Footage shows the tiger being hit repeatedly as it trys to escape into a river whilst drugged and contained in a net.

Watching the video, I felt sick to my stomach that we humans inflict such trauma upon animals that are doing the only thing that they know to do. Events like this can happen all over the world and are not particular to India. There are many places now where animals and humans are fighting for use of the same scarce land and resources.

The good news is that the tiger was finally released back into the safety of a river in it's natural habitat. It launched itself from the cage on the barge deep into the river and swam to safety. I only hope that after so much trauma, injury and the effects of a tranquilisor that the cubs are okay as there are so few of these precious creatures left.

(Note: this photo is of one of the three tiger cubs at the Melbourne Zoo in Victoria, Australia. This is not a photo of the tiger in this story.).