This was a photo taken of an Indo-Chinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti), which is a subspecies I had previously not seen in the flesh. This tiger currently lives at the Cincinnati Zoo and is relentlessly yelled at by small children and adults alike in order to provide "entertainment". I could not count the amount of times people roared at it and yelled to get it attention. Fortunately, the tiger paid them no mind. Good on her.

This photo is actually terrible, but through photo editing it turned out to be something I wanted to submit. The angle of the sun was such that it illuminated the back of the tiger's head quite well. I applied that sort of play of light to the entire photo to get something along the lines of "Lightwaves".

Does this photo show some sort of divine ambiance, a tiger's indifference or a yearning for something greater? That is up to you...

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Tigers are the largest of the big cats and are exclusively found in Asia from India to Vietnam, from Indonesia to the Russian Far East. The tiger can be divided into 9 subspecies: 4 are currently critically endangered and 3 are already extinct. Though estimations of tiger populations only a few years ago was 5,500-6,000, today populations are likely closer to 3,500 and are still declining. Dramatic declines of the tiger in India, thought to host the majority of the world's tigers, have fallen to less than 1,411. Overall, the past decade has seen a 40% reduction in tiger habitat, which now represents a mere 7% of its historic range. Poaching is a significant problem throughout the tiger's range, the demand for its body parts in traditional medicines, tonics, and exotic dishes driving a lucrative trade that is wiping out entire populations. Long-term threats include habitat fragmentation and prey depletion, which is accelerating the tiger's demise and subsequently reducing the long-term genetic viability of many populations.

If you want to help, the best for you to do is to educate yourself (http://www.savethetigerfund.org), never buy products made from tigers or endangered species (http://www.wildaid.org), and tell others. Contact me for more information.