Tiger, Tiger

Confused goings on in India where courts have ruled an, at least temporary, embargo on tourists going to areas to view tigers (Panthera tigris)(http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/20/tiger-population-india-tourism-ban?INTCMP=SRCH). The move has been condemned both by some conservationists and by locals whose livelihoods depend on tourist income. It cuts across efforts to encourage people to tolerate endangered, but potentially dangerous animals, because of the benefits they bring in (otherwise people are tempted to kill the beasts and sell the materials to the Chinese folk medicine proponents). The reasons for the ruling were, however, understandable as the person complaining (a conservationist) was concerned that people were not respecting legal rules banning tourists from areas where tigers were breeding and were putting too much pressure on the reserves (numbers of tigers have fallen here) by packing vehicles with visitors. Strangely enough, the same newspaper that had the article was advertising trips to India with tiger watching as a highlight.