We, Tigris, consisting of Flo and Simone, are a “non-profit” organization dedicated to animal welfare through environmental education. Through lectures and project days at schools, we try to bring animals and nature closer to the children of today. Learn more.
Latest news and events
Each year, approximately two million kangaroos are commercially slaughtered for their skins and meat, with Europe having an immense impact on the largest commercial slaughter of wildlife on the planet. Learn more…
08. July, 2024 – News
Protect kangaroos
Protect kangaroos
Kangaroo leather is used to make soccer boots, motorcycle suits and other luxury fashion products, while kangaroo meat is sold in European supermarkets, served in restaurants and used in pet food.
However, major companies such as Nike and Puma have announced they are switching to synthetic materials and no longer using kangaroo products.
67.3% of Australians believe that other countries should stop the commercial slaughter of Australian wildlife if it involves cruelty or ecological hazards, similar to the EU’s ban on seal products. In addition, 64.2% believe that trade in kangaroo body parts should cease.
Negotiations between the EU and Australia on a free trade agreement are nearing completion, and both sides expect the talks to end soon. It is therefore crucial that the partners seize the opportunity of this final phase to achieve ambitious animal welfare provisions in the agreement and put an end to the cruel trade.
Nine out of ten Australians believe kangaroos should remain part of the Australian landscape and think coexistence is important, while only 9.7% of respondents think kangaroos are a nuisance, mainly because of road hazards.
The survey was commissioned by Kangaroos Alive, a nonprofit organization that advocates nationally and globally for a moratorium on the killing of kangaroos. The organization has joined an ongoing campaign in Europe to stop the import of kangaroos into the EU.
These birds don’t fly in the sky, they are at home in the sea: they swim and dive super-fast, many of them even in the icy waters around Antarctica. Learn more…
11. April, 2024 – Info
Penguins of the World
Penguins of the World
There are 18 different species of penguins and they all live in the southern hemisphere. Some frolic in ice and snow, others further north where the water is warmer: off New Zealand, southern Australia, southern Africa, on the west coast of South America and on the Galapagos Islands. These are located on the equator, which is more than 8,000 kilometers further north than Antarctica. It can get as hot as 30 degrees Celsius there.
The emperor penguin is the largest of the penguins and lives in Antarctica. The dwarf penguin, on the other hand, is the smallest penguin in the world at 30 to 40 centimetres.
Of the total of 18 penguin species on earth, 8 live on the Antarctic continent and the surrounding island groups. The other, mostly smaller species live where it is warmer: at the southern tip of Africa (like the spectacled penguins in the picture) and South America (Magellanic and Humboldt penguins) as well as off the coast of South Australia and New Zealand (yellow-eyed and little penguins).
Source: https://www.wwf-junior.de/tiere/pinguine
A Sumatran rhinoceros has been born in Indonesia. According to conservation organizations, there are said to be just under 80 specimens of the smallest rhinoceros species left. Learn more…
16. June, 2024 – News
Sumatran rhino born
Sumatran rhino born
Animal conservationists are celebrating the birth of a rare Sumatran rhinoceros in an Indonesian national park. The miniature rhino was born on Saturday on the 460th day of its mother’s pregnancy – ten days earlier than the expected date. It has not yet been given a name. According to Indonesian Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar, it weighs 25 kilograms.
The male calf is the second rhino baby to be born this year in Way Kambas National Park in the east of the island of Sumatra, the local environment ministry announced. Its parents are seven-year-old Delilah, who was born in the park, and Harapan, a bull who was born at Cincinnati Zoo in the USA in 2007. He found a new home in Way Kambas in 2015. According to the ministry, no Sumatran rhino has lived outside Indonesia since then. Successful births of these endangered animals are rare.
The Sumatran rhinoceros is the smallest of the world’s five existing rhinoceros species. Unlike other species, its body is hairy. They carry two horns and have a large repertoire of vocalizations, such as squeaking, humming and snorting. Sumatran rhinoceroses (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) were once native to large parts of Southeast Asia and the East Indies.
Hunting of the animals and the destruction of their habitats have caused the population to dwindle to an estimated 80 specimens today. The Sumatran rhinoceros is classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). “This rhino is so rare that few people have ever seen one in the wild,” writes the Sumatran Rhino Alliance on its website. Members of the alliance include the Indonesian government, the WWF, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the International Rhino Foundation.
Icelandic Fisheries Minister, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, announced the suspension of the fin whale hunt in Iceland until August 31st. Learn more…
21. March, 2024 – News
Fin Whaling Suspended
Fin Whaling Suspended
Long-time IFAW Icelandic representative Sigursteinn Masson said, “This is tremendously encouraging news and a very important step toward the end of whaling in Iceland.”
Just last month, an unprecedented Icelandic government study showed that over 40% of whales killed during the whaling season last year suffered slow and painful deaths. Following a report that analyzed surveillance footage showing that whales could take as long as two hours to die during the hunts, it was agreed a quick death cannot be guaranteed on whale hunts.
The current whaling quota is due to expire at the end of 2023, after which a new five-year quota would need to be authorized by the Fisheries Minister. This, alongside the timely decision to pause whaling this summer, signals that this could be a critical turning point for the Icelandic Government to assess the future of whaling in the country.
Although the whale hunt suspension is only until August 31st., this is a step in the right direction.
The snow leopard is threatened with extinction. To be able to protect the animals, data about them is needed. In the Tien Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan, interested people can help scientists with their research. But there is no guarantee that you will see the shy big cats. Read more…
26. May, 2024 – News
On the track of snow leopards
On the track of snow leopards
For some time now, amateur scientists have been able to help research the lives of the animals and thus contribute to their protection. The non-profit organisation Biosphere Expeditions offers programmes to recreational researchers in which participants help scientists gather data. And that is important, because only if they have enough data about the animals’ lives can they protect the big cats.
In Kyrgyzstan, where up to 1400 snow leopards lived in the mid-1980s, scientists now estimate the population at no more than 350 animals. In the 13 countries where snow leopards live, there are said to be only 6600 animals left in total.
The problem: a single pelt fetches 20,000 euros on the black market. According to traditional Chinese medicine, the bones help to inhibit inflammation and relieve pain.
Protection for the species is under threat following movement from the European Commission towards a proposal that would downgrade wolves’ status of protection, which could give Member States more flexibility to authorise culling. Read more…
04. March, 2024 – News
Wolves at risk
Three chimpanzees shot
EU efforts towards the recovery of wolves are paying off. Wolf range has increased over 25% in the last decade, and they are now present in all mainland Member States. Yet, this success remains fragile as 6 out of the 9 transboundary wolf populations in the EU did not yet reach a favourable conservation status. The downgrading of the protection status of wolves would jeopardise the efforts invested and further threaten the viability of populations.
In 2018, it was estimated that over 900 wolves were killed each year in the EU.
The use of such derogations should be strictly regulated as they are only permitted when no alternative solutions could be identified, and should not jeopardise the conservation status of the species.
President von der Leyen’s claim that “wolf packs in some European regions have become a real danger for livestock and potentially also for humans” is false. We estimate the presence of 19,000 wolves in the EU, which is insignificant compared to the 86 million sheeps reared. Between 2012 and 2016, the annual number of sheep compensated because of wolf depredation corresponded to 0.05% of the over-wintering sheep stock.
Besides potential damages to livestock that can be efficiently prevented, wolves provide important services to the environment and the economy. They are keystone species, bringing back biodiversity, preventing the spread of diseases and reinstating a natural balance in the ecosystem, as demonstrated in Yellowstone National Park. Such services can also provide important economic benefits. In light of the global biodiversity crisis, the EU must ensure the continued protection of these important species and promote coexistence in the interest of all.
DE
