Threats to the Tigers
A symbol of conservation under immediate threat
Throughout their range in Asia (including the Russian Far East) tiger populations are threatened, either directly from poaching, or from habitat and prey loss. In many places, they struggle for survival with burgeoning human populations competing for similar resources of food and shelter.
Hunted for their pelt and bones, tiger populations in many areas are dwindling. Until the 1930s, hunting for sport was probably the main cause of decline in tiger populations. Between 1940 and the late 1980s, the greatest threat was loss of habitat due to human population expansion and activities such as logging.While poaching for illegal trade continues to be a major threat, habitat destruction and decimation of prey populations also contribute to the decline of tiger populations.
Threats to tigers can be separated into two categories: Poaching and retributive killing, which includes the illegal trade of tiger parts and human wildlife conflict, and habitat destruction and fragmentation, including illegal logging and commercial plantations.
Many range countries lack the capacity and resources to properly monitor tiger and prey populations. Policies conducive to ensuring long-term survival of the tiger are often lacking. Where they do exist, implementation is often ineffective.
Habitat loss and fragmentation
Habitat destruction reduces both tigers and its prey. As a result tigers move into settled areas in search of food, where they are more likely to get killed.
Illegal trade - Traditional "cures" a curse for tigers
In recent years, the illegal hunting of tigers for body parts used in traditional Chinese medicines has become a major problem. The growing prosperity of the Southeast Asian and East Asian economies since the 1970s has led to an ever-increasing demand for these medicines.
There are also significant markets amongst Asian communities in North America and Europe. In India many hundreds of Bengal tigers are known to have been killed by poachers, but this is probably the tip of an iceberg, since most poaching is clandestine and difficult to detect.
Today, wild tigers occur mostly in small "island" populations. Such isolated populations are predisposed to inbreeding and are increasingly vulnerable to the pressures of encroachment and poaching.
Keeping tiger "islands" intact amid some of the most densely human-populated countries on earth is possible, but offers little hope for the tiger's genetic vigour and long-term viability. Hence the need to conserve core areas connected by natural biological corridors, providing large enough habitat for tigers to live, breed and disperse in.
