Tiger Conservation Status and Statistics
The tiger is renowned for being a species blighted by habitat loss and poaching. Their numbers have dwindled in recent decades, although conservation efforts are helping them to recover. Xplore Our Planet look at all the important tiger conservation figures.
Conservation Status of Tigers
Tigers are considered endangered. There are some subspecies that are considered critically endangered. These are tigers in Malaysia and China. Very little is known about the numbers of these animals, with estimates placing them as low as 20.
How Many Tigers Did There Used to Be?
When record-keeping began at the beginning of the 20th century, there were estimated to be around 100,000 tigers living across South-East Asia. Tigers used to be numerous across many regions of the continent, their range stretching up from Pakistan and India right the way through central China and up past Korea to Russia.
There are Less than 4000 Tigers Left
The tiger suffered massive losses at the hands of human activity, with many animal populations becoming isolated to separate regions of Asia as human civilisations quickly overtook their habitats and conflicts led to further number declines. Tiger pelts were also highly valuable, which saw large numbers of tigers lost to poaching. To make matters worse, tigers are considered trophy game, and were hunted for sport. From 100,000 wild tigers, we’re now down to less than 4000 individuals.
Half of All Tiger Cubs Don’t Survive
The survival rate of tiger cubs is notoriously low. There are a few reasons for this, but they come back to one thing: tiger cubs are absolutely dependent on their mothers to survive and have no ability to do so without her. While natural incidents will take their course, there are other human factors at play here.
If a tiger is poached or killed while out hunting, the cubs back at her den will perish. If she is unable to feed the cubs due to lack of food through human interference, the cubs will also perish. While we cannot place the responsibility of tiger loss squarely on human shoulders, there is a strong influence here.
100 Tigers are Poached or Trafficked Each Year
The illegal trade of tiger meat, pelt and as livestock is still very much alive. Around 100 tigers are lost to this industry every year. They’re either shot or trapped and sold.
It’s Not All Bad News! Tiger Populations are Recovering
Conservation efforts are working and for the first time in 100 years, we’ve seen an increase in the number of wild tigers. While the activities of humans still take their toll, tigers are beginning to step towards a brighter future. From a low of 3100 tigers in 2010, a decade later we’ve seen a rise of almost 1000 animals.
To learn more about the recovery of wild tigers, and how to support tiger conservation, be sure to read our blog on the subject.
