Tiger with radio collar

This is annoying. You fit a few tigers with tracking devices in a bid to monitor their movements and protect remaining populations, and then some clever guy, armed with a rifle and a tracking device, uses the technology to track the animals down and kill them.

At least that's how it appears, as two tigers were suspiciously killed recently.

"We have ordered a probe into the deaths," he said.

"But in the meantime, we have suspended the project as some experts said the fitting of the radio collar could have hastened their deaths." -- ABC

News stories on these deaths don't specifically say how the collars could have caused the tiger deaths, but apparently hunters are known to use high-tech equipment to find them:

Data available at the Project Tiger Directorate indicates that out of 173 deaths of tigers during 1999-2004, 83 were caused by poaching. You'll be surprised to know that poachers use sophisticated communication devices such as wireless sets, UHB Radio, and even Ham radio for tracking tigers. Tiger reserves on the contrary are not equipped with adequate means of communication to counter illegal activities. Radio telemetry can be used to track a lion or a tiger. -- PCQuest

In just over one hundred years, tiger populations have plummeted 95% - from around 100,000 individuals in 1900 to around 5,000 - 6,000 today.