'Tigress' illustration for Ada Zanditon S/S 2013 and Panthera

'Tigress' ©2012 Slowly The Eggs aka Maria Papadimitriou for Ada Zanditon and Panthera

The Tiger is the world’s largest cat, but it’s threatened with extinction. One hundred years ago, as many as 100,000 wild tigers roamed the forests and grasslands of Asia. Today, fewer than 3,200 tigers remain in the wild in 13 countries (source: Panthera.org). Inspired by the boundless majesty of the Tiger, designer Ada Zanditon created for S/S 2013 a sensual collection of elegant sculptural ready to wear entitled 'Tigress Reign', and commissioned a number of illustrators to create images to accompany her collection and support Panthera's campaign. Here is the image I created inspired by one of the primary threats facing tigers, namely that wild tigers are being directly hunted to meet the demands of the illegal wildlife trade market. Tiger parts are consumed for traditional medicinal purposes across Asia, with a heavy demand in China. The international illegal trade in wildlife products is a booming business, and is estimated to yield more than $6 billion a year.