Blood of the Tiger: A Story of Conspiracy, Greed, and the Battle to Save a Magnificent Species

In this call to action, Mills recounts the complicated history and current state of efforts to save wild tigers, stop legal tiger farming and illegal trade, and end consumer demand for tiger products (such as tiger-bone wine, in which tiger bones and sometimes entire skeletons steep in vats of wine and sell for hundreds of dollars). For 20 years Mills worked for various conservation groups in the fight for tigers, and the story she tells is a twisted one, from political maneuvering by powerful countries to the “backstabbing jostle” in the conservation community itself. From the onset, Mills states the stakes plainly: “The King of the Jungle cannot outrun death much longer.” And she does not shy from blame, either, stating outright that when the last wild tiger dies, “Its blood will stain China’s hands forever. Other hands too.” Though the first half of the book becomes tedious in its play-by-play documentation of infighting among conservation groups, by the latter half readers becomes emotionally invested in Mills’s message—that is, the endless manipulation, misdirection, and “charade” of the players involved—and the final section entitled “How You Can Help End Tiger Trade” is a welcome one. [em](Jan.) [/em]