The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has outlined the current top ten trouble spots in a first-time interactive map that provides a unique overview of threats faced by wild tigers.
The map, announced on Feb. 10, comes as many Asian countries and the world prepare to celebrate the start of the Year of the Tiger, which begins on Feb. 14.
However, there are only an estimated 3,200 tigers left in the wild, and they face increasing threats including habitat loss, illegal trade and climate change, according to the map.
There is hope though, as tiger range countries, conservation groups and organisations such as the World Bank will gather in Russia in September to lay out an ambitious agenda for saving wild tigers at a special summit.
In the lead up to the summit, all 13 tiger range countries have committed to the goal of doubling tiger numbers in the wild by 2020.
There is hope for the great cats in the Year of the Tiger, said Mike Baltzer, Leader of WWF’s Tiger Initiative.
There has never been such an ambitious, high-level commitment from governments to double wild tiger numbers, he said, adding “they have set the bar high and we hope for the sake of both the tiger and people that they reach it.”
Tigers are a charismatic species and a flagship for Asia ’s biological diversity, culture and economy, Baltzer said.
Threats to wild tigers highlighted in the map include Southeast Asia , India , and Bangladesh .
Three tiger sub-species have gone extinct since the 1940s and a fourth one, the South China tiger, has not been seen in the wild in 25 years, according to the WWF.
Tigers live in 40 percent less habitat since the last Year of the Tiger in 1998, and they occupy just seven percent of their historic range. They thrive in the wild when they have strong protection from poaching and habitat loss and enough prey to eat./.
The map, announced on Feb. 10, comes as many Asian countries and the world prepare to celebrate the start of the Year of the Tiger, which begins on Feb. 14.
However, there are only an estimated 3,200 tigers left in the wild, and they face increasing threats including habitat loss, illegal trade and climate change, according to the map.
There is hope though, as tiger range countries, conservation groups and organisations such as the World Bank will gather in Russia in September to lay out an ambitious agenda for saving wild tigers at a special summit.
In the lead up to the summit, all 13 tiger range countries have committed to the goal of doubling tiger numbers in the wild by 2020.
There is hope for the great cats in the Year of the Tiger, said Mike Baltzer, Leader of WWF’s Tiger Initiative.
There has never been such an ambitious, high-level commitment from governments to double wild tiger numbers, he said, adding “they have set the bar high and we hope for the sake of both the tiger and people that they reach it.”
Tigers are a charismatic species and a flagship for Asia ’s biological diversity, culture and economy, Baltzer said.
Threats to wild tigers highlighted in the map include Southeast Asia , India , and Bangladesh .
Three tiger sub-species have gone extinct since the 1940s and a fourth one, the South China tiger, has not been seen in the wild in 25 years, according to the WWF.
Tigers live in 40 percent less habitat since the last Year of the Tiger in 1998, and they occupy just seven percent of their historic range. They thrive in the wild when they have strong protection from poaching and habitat loss and enough prey to eat./.
