A tiger is tranquilized by forestry officials before being
pulled out of a deep well in India. TODAY.com's Dara Brown
reports. BHUBANESWAR, India -- Coal mining for electricity
generation is the biggest threat to India's tigers, a report by
environmental activists Greenpeace warned, demanding a
moratorium on clearances for new mines just days after massive
blackouts highlighted power shortages. A hot-button issue in
India, tiger conservation pits the desire to preserve wildlife
against the development needs of a country that in March
witnessed its slowest economic growth rate in nine years and
where hundreds of millions continue to live below poverty line.
India is home to more than half of the world's tigers, with
1,706 living in the wild, compared to 100,000 at the turn of the
last century. The International Union for Conservative of Nature
estimates between 3,000 and 4,000 tigers live in the wild
anywhere in the world. Report warns of 'stark' situation The
emerging Asian power has witnessed an unprecedente