Student - 23

Summary:

• 5 out of 8 subspecies of tigers exist today. They are confined inside of Asia. The native cultures hunted them for sport, status symbol, trophy and medicine.
• The environments that are being depleted everyday. This is due to factors including overgrazing and native use of wood (deforestation). Marr is trying to set up programs to try to offer natives alternative fuels. In order to resolve overgrazing, he is trying to minimize the Indian cattle population. U.S. need of beef is a major reason for deforestation in South America.
• When deforestation occurs, the soil is swept away into the ocean leaving a desert. Nearly 6 billion tons pf soil is lost every year in India. The ecosystem is disturbed and eventually destroyed. There are a few "parks" in which tigers and other species find a home.
• The problem with endangered animals is that captive animals cannot be easily introduced into the wild. Tiger cubs take two and a half years to learn to hunt from their mothers.

Opinion:

I honestly believe that Mr. Marr presented a well researched and well founded presentation. He had experience on what he was presenting and that fuels his argument. He was also knowledgeable about the environment trends and the native cultures that are "partially" responsible. His presentation flowed well and covered a wide basis. Mr. Marr also was able to dispel a stereotype of animal rights activists; he did not blame everything on us and the United States. One of the few flaws that I could find in his presentation is that the answer of solving the tiger issue opened a few other issues. It seemed to me that it would be extremely hard to stop overgrazing without offending the Hindu culture. Also if the U.S. market of beef was reduced, doesn�t that mean that cattle population would increase? Although it is crude, perhaps a system of crop rotation that was used during the feudalistic area could be a solution to overgrazing. The system would also be able to keep soil in an area and keep it fertilized. Once again it is a very crude suggestion but it may help. I do realize that the soil is too weak to be able to sustain monsoons or other storms, but in some areas this system could be useful.

Overall I believe there is a lot that needs to be done in order to save some of the animals and fragile ecosystems. The only other flaw that I found in Mr. Marr�s presentation is that I never could ask him about his outlook on the theory of evolution. I was very curious in his response on such a question. I believe that Mr. Marr was very successful in his presentation; I was swayed into compassion for his case. I WANT TO SAVE THE TIGERS!!!!
 

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