It was established in 2010 during the Tiger Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, with the aim of drawing attention not only to the need to protect this endangered species, but also to gain global support for the protection and preservation of its natural environment. The predator, which in the past was spread practically throughout Asia in many subspecies, from Turkey to Indonesia, is now an endangered species mainly thanks to man. Some subspecies of these formidable animals have already been completely exterminated. Although tigers are the sacred guardians of the forests according to ancient stories, their living space is gradually being taken over by human civilization. Tigers suffer mainly because of the cutting down of rainforests, which are replaced by tea plantations, rice fields or oil palm plantations, from the fruits of which palm oil is produced. This leaves only the rainforests in the mountains. The forests in the lowlands, which were a natural habitat for tigers, have almost disappeared, and the ultimate predator has thus lost more than 90 percent of its territory. Only isolated areas remain of its habitat, where it becomes easy prey for poachers. In addition to fur, the main reason for illegal hunting is the demand for tiger products, especially on the Chinese market, for the purposes of traditional Chinese medicine. The powder made from ground tiger bones is especially prized. Although poachers face heavy penalties, they kill several hundred of these rare animals every year. Over the past hundred years, the number of tigers living in the wild has been declining at an alarming rate. If they were estimated at 100,000 in 1920, only about 4,000 tigers live on Earth today. In recent years, Russia, Thailand or India have taken up the fight to save them together, India even moved entire villages to expand reservations.
Tiger (in Latin Panthera tigris) is the largest feline and, thanks to its characteristic dark stripes on its golden-yellow or reddish-brown fur, practically unmistakable. So today we remember this beautiful solitary animal in colored pastel by the Brno painter Vilém Mužík (15/11/1902 Brno – 18/9/1978 Brno), who studied in the years 1926–1931 at the Prague Academy under professors Loukota, Krattner, Thiele and Nowak and was a member of the Group of Visual Artists in Brno (since 1936), the Club of Visual Artists Aleš (40s) and SČSVU. He portrayed the lying tiger with his unique artistic concept, characterized by color, shape abbreviation and relaxed handwriting.
Jana Bojanovská, July 2024

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