No tigers or lions, just bears  — oh, my.
As wild tigers advance toward extinction, the University inches closer to joining the ranks of schools with extinct mascots.
The number of tigers in the wild has dropped from 50,000 to 3,000 in the past 50 years, according to an estimate by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. At the current rate of decline, wild tigers — alongside other large cats like lions and leopards — may become extinct within 20 years, according to conservationists.
“It’s a terrible thing to realize tigers may go extinct. They represent our school,” said Cody Bueche, history and political science senior.
Tigers have been classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as an endangered species since 1986. Primary threats to wild tigers, which are used to maintain large habitats spanning across Asia, include poaching and habitat invasion, according to the IUCN.
Tigers are poached for their regal pelts as well as their bones. Tiger bones are a highly sought-after ingredient in traditional Asian medicine, which claims that the bones hold anti-inflammatory properties. The use and sale of tiger bone is illegal in all Asian countries, but lucrative illegal trade persists, the Union states.
Bueche said he respects the Asian culture’s traditions but disagreed with their involvement and subsequent contribution to the extinction of tigers.
“I believe everybody has the right to practice their culture,” Bueche said. “But when it comes at the price of wiping a species off the planet, I think that’s