In Search of The Last Wild Tigers With Guest: Ruth Padel, International Poet and author of "Tigers in Red Weather:A Quest For The Last Wild Tigers." Original Air Date: 07-24-2009

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According to a Poll of 73 countries by the Televlsion show, "Animal Planet" the Tiger is the world's favorite animal. The wild tiger however is highly endangered and the question remains will it survive?. In this episode of The Wild About Pets Radio Show, Ruth Padel shares her adventures and experiences as she traveled the globe looking for wild tigers and posing this question and why tigers are so endangered to the many conservationists and "defenders of the wild" she met during her two year journey.

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Ruth Padel, a British Poet, not a scientist or field researcher started her quest in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan in search of Bengal Tigers.
(Maps Copyright © John Gilkes 2005 from "Tigers in Red Weather")

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There are six living species of tigers. The indigenous tiger in India is the Bengal Tiger.

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A way to view tigers in India is by riding on the back of an Asian Elephant.
(Photo by Wikimedia Commons)

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A wild Bengal Tigress hiding in the grass. Taken from elephant back in Kanha National Park in India. (Not taken by Ruth Padel.)

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Royal Bengal Tiger resting on a rock in Ranthambore National Park, Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India.

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Tiger's enjoy water as opposed to domestic cats. This is a Bengal Tiger in the Ramganga River at Corbett National Park, Tiger Reserve, Northern Provinces, India.

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Ruth Padel continued her journey in Russia, Korea, China to look for Amur (or Siberian) and South China Tigers.
(Maps Copyright © John Gilkes 2005 from "Tigers in Red Weather")

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A female Siberian (Amur) tiger stalking her territory. Tigers live in both the hottest and coldest places in the world.

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An Amur (Siberian) tiger focuses in a hunting position.

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A Siberian tiger licking her cub. Tigeresses are "passionate, dedicated mothers" as described in Ruth Padel's book, "Tigers in Red Weather." Even though a tiger cub will have the instinct to kill it's prey, they must be taught the technique.

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A white tiger cub. A white tiger is not a actual sub-species of tiger. It is a mutation and now bred artificially in zoos.

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A South China Tiger.

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A South China Tiger with it's meal. Tigers cannot be protected if their prey, such as deer is not protected.

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In the countries that Tigers live, they are revered for many reasons and this regard is symbolized in many different ways. This is an old, used postage stamp of the Chinese Tiger. In some places the symbols remain while the actual tigers are gone.

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Ruth Padel searched for wild Indo-Chinese and Malayan Tigers in South-East Asia and Indonesia.
(Maps Copyright © John Gilkes 2005 from "Tigers in Red Weather")

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An Indo-Chinese Tiger.

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A Malayan Tiger.

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A Malayan tiger taking a drink from a rainforest pond. "Tigers live in forests. Lose the forest and you will lose the tiger" from "Tigers in Red Weather" by Ruth Padel.

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A Thai Buddist monk with a young tiger cub. A gentleman, Mr. Li, that Ruth Padel met while in China posed the question, "How can local people benefit from living with the tiger"? Ruth realized that this is the question the world has to solve.

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Ruth Padel's search for the wild tigers was completed as she learned about the Sumatran tiger and three types of extinct tigers.
(Maps Copyright © John Gilkes 2005 from "Tigers in Red Weather")

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A critically endangered Sumatran tiger staring at viewer with an aggressive look.

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Just as with domestic cats, tigers communicate with one another by spraying scent from glands under their tails that leaves information about the tiger that has sprayed. Some of the information communicated is declaration of territory, the sex and state of health of the cat.
(Photo Copyright by Alex Silwa)

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A Tiger sniffing another tiger's scent mark.
(Photo Copyright by John Seidensticker)

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A Bengal Tiger who lost it's life after being caught in a snare trap.
(Photo Copyright by Mr. Prasanna. A.N.)

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The extinct Javanese Tiger.

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The extinct Balinese Tiger.

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The extinct Caspian Tiger.

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Will tigers survive in the wild? Yes? No? After Ruth Padel's quest, she makes peace with the answer Yes, if.... This is explained in her book, "Tigers in Red Weather." For me, Susan Frank, radio show host, I fervently hope the answer is yes.

Ruth Padel is a prizewinning British poet, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Zoological Society of London and currently Resident Poet at Christ's College Cambridge. Her most recent poetry collection, Darwin - A Life in Poems, is a biography in poems of her great-great-grandfather Charles Darwin. In addition to her acclaimed poetry, she has published books on ancient Greek religion, rock music, Greek myth and masculinity and how to read contemporary poetry.

Ruth Padel's Website To order "Tigers in Red Weather" in the U.S. To order "Tigers in Red Weather" in the U.K.

Additional Resources

For more information about tigers or places to donate in order to help, here are some organizations that are mentioned in Ruth Padel's book and are struggling to protect wild tigers in these different places. These are organizations that Ruth has direct knowledge of and has either seen them in action or someone she trusts knows their work.

1) Wildlife Conservation Society in India

2) Global Tiger Patrol (Which gives funds from London for approved tiger conservation projects in India)

3) 21st Century Tiger (Based in Zoological Society London, which funds and directs tiger conservation in Russia and Sumatra)

4) Wildlife Conservation Society for Siberian Tigers.

5) Flora & Fauna International for Sumatran Tigers.

During this show episode, Ruth Padel mentioned a website that is attempting to stop the Chinese reopening of the international trade in tiger bone. Selling tiger parts from any source, farmed or not, decimates wild tigers. Here is the website link.

End Tiger Trade International Tiger Coalition