Posted : 29 Jul, 2017
Tigers are the world's largest cat species and currently listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). In the last 80 years, three of the nine subspecies of tiger went extinct and the future of the other six remains uncertain. The primary threats facing tigers are habitat loss, depletion of prey species and poaching.The number of tigers in the world has risen for the first time in 100 years. Around 100,000 tigers lived in the wild in 1900. 97 per cent of them were lost in a century of constant decline. But their number is finally on the rise despite the poaching and loss of habitat. For the first time in a century, the global wild tiger population has increased after many decades of decline. There are now minimum 3,890 tigers in the wild, representing a substantial increase since 2010, when estimates put the global population at as few as 3,200, according to the (IUCN).The conservation successes can be attributed to multiple factors, including an increase in tiger population in India, Russia, Nepal, Bhutan, improved surveys and enhanced protection, when countries announced a historic commitment to double the population (Tx2) by 2022. Countries appear to be heading toward their goal, and this is the first time tiger numbers have been increasing globally in more than a hundred years."A strong action plan for the next six years is vital," said Michael Baltzer, Leader of WWF Tx2 Tiger Initiative. "The global decline has been halted but there is still no safe place for tigers. Southeast Asia, in particular, is at an imminent risk of losing its tigers if these governments do not take action immediately."The world's count of wild tigers roaming forests from Russia to Vietnam has gone up for the first time in more than a century, with some 3,890 counted by conservation groups and national governments in the latest global census.This is the first time tiger counts have been increasing since 1900, when there were more than 100,000 tigers in the wild. "More important than the absolute numbers is the trend, and we're seeing the trend going in the right direction," said Ginette Hemley, senior vice president of wildlife conservation at the WWF.Tigers are considered endangered species, under constant threat from habitat loss and poachers seeking their body parts for sale on the black market. They are also seeing their habitats rapidly shrinking as countries develop.The global tiger count is based on data from 2014. Here is the tally given country-wise: Bangladesh 106; Bhutan 103; Cambodia 0; China more than 7; India 2,226; Indonesia 371; Laos 2; Malaysia 250; Nepal 198; Russia 433; Thailand 189; and Vietnam fewer than 5. Experts say Myanmar government's count of 85 tigers in 2010 was not included in the list because the data were considered out of date.Statistics from TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, show that minimum 1,590 tigers were seized by law enforcement officials between January 2000 and April 2014, feeding a multi-billion dollar illegal wildlife trade.The tiger population in Bangladesh's part of the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest, sharply declined to 106 in 2015 from 440 in 2004, confirms a top forest official quoting the tiger census 2015. The survey by Bangladesh's forest department, with technical support from the Wildlife Institute of India, titled 'Tiger Abundance in Bangladesh Sundarbans' said there were only 106 tigers in Bangladesh's part. Some 440 tigers were recorded during the previous census conducted in 2004 in the World Heritage-listed Sundarbans, one of the world's last remaining habitats for the big cats.Bengal tigers live mainly in India where nationwide there are 2,226, with smaller populations in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Myanmar. India is home to 70 per cent of global tiger population. Therefore, the country has an important role to play in tiger conservation. The Government of India started its 'Project Tiger' in 1972 with a view to conserving the animal. As part of this project nine core buffer areas for maintaining tiger population were notified.Established in 1994, the Global Tiger Forum is the only inter-governmental body for tiger conservation. Its membership includes seven tiger range countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal and Vietnam.Now the responsibility of both Bangladeshi and Indian authorities might be to analyse the environmental impact of the population loss of a species like the Royal Bengal Tiger and devise proper ways to conserve them.
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