London: Donating money to tiger conservation charities is a waste of time because their success rate is "disastrous", said Chris Packham, BBC wildlife presenter.
Packham said efforts to save the animals through conservation were worthless.
The Telegraph quoted him as saying: "Tiger conservation is a multi-million pound business that isn''t working. If it were in the FTSE 100, it would have gone bankrupt.”
“Who''d buy shares in a business that''s failing in its objective?" he asked.
He told the Radio Times: "I do rather dislike the fact that if you do as I do and openly criticise conservation, it''s almost as if you''re attacking something holy.
"But if we''re all giving a pound for the tiger, or whatever, I think we all have a right to think that money is being best spent, that''s all. Why shouldn''t I criticise if there is a criticism to be levelled? One would hope the vast majority of wildlife charities are doing good - but why shouldn''t I ask? What''s so sacred?"
There are only 3,000 tigers left in the world, down from an estimated 100,000 a century ago, according to figures from the World Wildlife Fund.
Last year, 85 tiger deaths were recorded in India - the highest toll since 2001 - many of them a result of poaching, Packham said.
The presenter of BBC Two''s Springwatch said conservation projects were failing because the demand for dead tigers, mostly from China, is so great. (ANI)
First Published: Tuesday, May 25, 2010, 22:40