...tigers i have loved....

"Tatiana and Haluma"

I love tigers. they have long been my favorite of all the animals on god's green earth.
On a gruesome christmas day this year, two more of these majestic and almost extinct creatures have died violent deaths. Both were shot.
The first was named Tatiana, a four year old 350 pound tiger and she died because the wall that enclosed her compound at the san francisco zoo was far too low at only 12.5 feet. It should have been at least 18 feet to even remotely keep her contained...but she should have never been in a cage in the first place.
on christmas day, Tatiana decided to become a tiger again and escaped her prison enclosure by springing her mighty muscles and extending her claws, vaulting over the edge of her compound wall, going hunting for the last time in the jungle of the san francisco zoo. She attacked three men, killing one and severely injuring two more before she was shot to death by four officers rescuing the prey of the tiger.
I dont blame the cops for doing their jobs, but..
i dont blame Tataina for doing hers, either.
The second tiger had no name and was found dead here in dallas. I am naming her Haluma, which means "the roar of the tiger" in bengali. She was only a year or two old, and weighed 180 pound. Hamula was declawed and found with a leash still wrapped around her neck...and with 5 gunshot wounds in her head. It would appear that she was kept as "pet" and probably had been killed by her "owner" within just a few hours after the attacks at the san francisco zoo.... probaly out of fear.
The last in line:
all species of tiger are endangered and many are bordering on being completely wiped away from this earth....the main reasons being hunting for fur and body parts which are used in chinese medicine, and the destruction of their habitats by developing nations.
what poor stewards we have been to the world god gave us.
bengal tiger: only apx. 3,500 left in the wild
siberian tiger: only apx 400 left in the wild
indochinese tiger: only apx 1,500 left in the wild
malayan tiger: only apx 700 left in the wild
sumatran tiger: only 450 left in the entire world.
south china tiger: only 59 left in the entire world
the balinese, javanese, and caspian tigers are completely extinct. vanished. gone.
it is estimated there are 20,000 tigers in captivity world wide, with 12,000 being kept as "pets" here in the united states, 4000 tigers here in texas alone, and as many as 500 tigers in the houston area... an appalling 90% of all kept tigers suffer from abuse, including the ones kept in chinese "tiger farms".
please, people...
i get sick of feeling helpless all the time.
so i'm going to try to make a difference. please sign this petition to

Zhou Wenzhong, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the U.S:

Save Tigers: Urge China to Maintain Ban on Trade in Tiger Parts

thank you everyone for signing the petition.