Award of Excellence
Steve Winter
Freelance
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"A CRY FOR THE TIGER"
Poachers killed 18-old Sheila in her cage at the zoo in Jambi, Indonesia the night before this photo was made. Tigers are worth more dead than alive; even a cage in a zoo does not provide safe haven for a tiger when nearly all parts of the cat—eyes, whiskers, genitals, bone, and more— are worth their weight in gold in the black market for use in traditional Chinese medicine. Tiger bone has been estimated to fetch $1,450 per pound and skins are valued at between $10,000 and $20,000.
Here, Dara Arista, 8, who came to the zoo to see Sheila, holds a photo of her in front of her cage. The poacher was captured on a bus carrying the tiger parts; he admitted to the crime, for which he was paid $100. |
