16th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
F6698, Bengal tiger and wild boar, mounted (life size diorama)

Confiscated by US federal wildlife officials in 2017, this illegally trafficked life-size diorama of a bengal tiger hunting a wild boar sits alone in a corner of a remote warehouse. Tigers are among the worlds most critically endangered big cat species and only number 3,800 in the wild. Recently, China announced that it would lift a ban on tiger and rhino parts, furthering the risk for illegally trafficked wildlife parts. The poaching rate of tigers is exacerbated by myths in many parts of Asia that tiger bone serves important medicinal and health purposes.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 10.2018
Date Uploaded: 11.2018
Photo Location: , United States of America
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Copyright: © Alex Basaraba