Sources

Book reviews. Nature [serial online]. September 22, 1994;371(6495):296. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 6, 2013.

Joseph Ford. Nature 371, 296 (22 September 1994) doi:10.1038/371296a0 Comments and Opinion 

Ge, G., Dong, Y., & Guo, H. (2008). Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright. China Today, 57(6), 42-43.

Børdahl, V. (2007). The Man-Hunting Tiger: From "Wu Song Fights the Tiger" in Chinese Traditions. Asian Folklore Studies, 66(1/2), 141-163.

Tigers in controversal topics

On PETA's website, there are numerous articles about Tigers and the illegal exotic animal trade. One of them being about tigers in Balm, Florida that were kept by owner, Lance Ramos, whom was an unlicensed animal exhibitor through the Hawthorn Corporation. The owner of the corporation had their permit refused to be renewed, so they will not be allowed to exhibit or keep Tigers in Florida. The corporation has also had it's license suspended twice before in light of a case of abuse to elephants and release of the 16 elephants that were housed after one had died from chemical burns that went untreated. There has also been around or more than 30 tigers that have died under captivity of this corporation and that is since 2000.

In my personal opinion, I think it is awful that people can obtain licenses, so easily or quickly and then hoard and abuse these exotic animals. I think more precaution, prevention, and punishment on this matter would help to control it. The illegal trade needs to be stopped through punishing the crime and making these animals less obtainable. I'm not sure if it would be too strict or too hard to manage, but background checks could be a good tool used in prevention before people can get a license to exhibit and keep exotic animals, especially the endangered kind, which it is my belief should not be kept unless it is for conservation and re-population of the species. 

Tigers in Film

Aladdin is another Disney classic that involves the story of Princess Jasmine and the pauper Aladdin falling in love, it is a classic princess fairytale with the happy ending. As usual, Jasmine has an animal companion by the name of Rajah, and the animal is a tiger. It's a common sort of belief that the wealthy own such exotic creatures, but whether that is true or just a myth I'm not sure.  What I find very curious about the scenes to the left is the anthropomorphism of the tiger, for you see the sadness in the features in     the top moving gif.  You even see the animal hug her back as she cries against her companion, much like we would hug our cats and dogs in times of sorrow.

This second moving gif from the movie also shows Jasmine loving on the tiger and there appears to be a happy smile on the animal's face, and in both scenes these are very different depictions of the animal that the public knows as vicious and dangerous, for in this movie it appears as if the tiger is as gently as our house cats. There is also a scene in the movie where Aladdin comes to visit Jasmine as a prince where Rajah is fiercely snarling at Aladdin, being protective of Jasmine, and portraying the image of the tiger that the public and media know.

I think the reasoning behind why they use the tiger and anthropomorphize it is to get the children to relate to the animal, to connect similar characters or emotions that make it more likable than Iago, the parrot.

 I would certainly deem the Life of Pi a more adult movie as it is about a boy's survival on this boat for 227 days with this tiger. The directors and producers spent time studying tigers, which I think adds immensely to the portrayal of the animal in the movie. You can see in both gifs that the animal certainly does not have any of the anthropomorphized emotions that are shown in Rajah, in the Disney movie Aladdin. You can see how the boat ride for the boy in the movie quickly became one of life or death survival. For tigers, as predators, were certainly trying to go after the boy as prey.

This shows a more realistic version of the tiger that we would think of today or that was told in story in the past. There is nothing about that massive paw and teeth that says this animal is cute and cuddly either, so you may disassociate any connections to animals in your life.

Tigers in Literature or Folklore

The Man-Hunter Tiger 

from "Wu Song Fights the Tiger" in Chinese Tradition

It is a tale of the hero Wu Song and the struggle, sometimes life or death, that he has with a man-eating tiger. The tale is suppose to be a contrast of the conflict between man and nature. It can even be traced back to the middle of the 17th century, when the author became famous for the tale. The tiger is also known as the "big beast" in other variations of the story. The character Wu Song actually hunts out the tiger and in the story wants to see how strong the animal is, while the tiger is said to think about how hearty Wu Song is and how the animal will have left overs. In different versions, it becomes more comedic or more animal-like where the tiger is hunting for prey. I believe the tiger is used because there were more tigers back in that age, and tigers were seen as dangerous and would come and hunt the village's animals or prey on the young. It was a rather feared animal in that culture, and that is why I think it was chosen against all other animals. For the story of defeating the "big beast" of a tiger in a heroic battle would certainly catch on.

Tigers in artwork through the years

This is one of several watercolor portraits of the tiger by Eugene Delacroix. It come from a book called Noble Beasts: Animals in Art, which is a book full of collections of various pictures from the National Gallery of Art all the way in Washington, D.C. It is credited all the way back to the year 1830.

This is a photo taken from the website dated at 2013 in September, chinatoday.com.cn, and it is for a promotion of saving the endangered species. It talks about how since the 1980s, the Chinese government has been trying to strengthen efforts in order to stop poaching, etc. It is stated that the tiger population has dropped from 100,000 to 3, 500 over the past 100 years, according to a chief engineer of Department of Wildlife Conservation and Nature Reserve Management of the State Forestry Administration, Yan Xun. In 2010, heads of govrnement from 13 nations agreed to a Global Tiger Recovery Program which hopes to double the population of tigers in the wild by 2022. So, there is much more hope for the recovery of tigers. China has even stopped the use of tiger bones in medicine and trade of parts.