Challenges
From 100,000 to 4,000 today
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© WWF-Canon / Caroline LIOU
All tigers are classified as endangered. Throughout their range in Asia (including the Russian Far East) tiger populations are threatened, either directly from poaching, or from habitat destruction and loss of prey. In many places, they struggle for survival against the needs of burgeoning human populations who compete for similar resources of food and shelter.
For more than 1,000 years, tiger parts have been in demand as an ingredient for traditional Asian medicines, for magic purposes, for souvenirs and curios, as status symbols and as decorative items such as wall and floor coverings.
Illegal trade & poaching
Although trade in tiger parts and derivatives is illegal, poaching persistently feeds continuing consumer demand and is a major worldwide threat to the species. Now, the threat is expanding: as tiger populations decline, demand increases for parts and derivatives of other big cat species such as the endangered snow leopard and leopard.
Habitat loss & conflict with humans
Large-scale habitat destruction and devastation of prey populations are also contributing to the tiger's decline. When habitat is rapidly turned into farmland and settlements, and when natural prey is hunted by humans and stocks fall, tigers attack domestic animals - and sometimes humans. This often leads to these 'problem animals' being killed by the authorities or angry villagers in retaliation.
Cause for alarm
Although there are no accurate recent estimates of the world tiger population, numbers are thought to have fallen by about 95% since the turn of the 20th century -- down from around 100,000 to the present estimate of around 4,000.
Lack of resources/resolve hampering protection efforts
Many range countries lack the capacity and resources to assess tiger and prey populations and monitor their distribution over time and space; neither are they able effectively to enforce laws prohibiting poaching and trade. Policies to ensure the long-term survival of the tiger are often lacking -- and where they do exist, implementation is often weak.
