Tigers are one of the most known species to mankind. Tigers signify beauty and danger at the same time. Tigers are ubiquitous. Although they may be common throughout books, games, and the internet, they themselves are not common. In fact, their overall species (Panthera tigris) are the most at risk of any big cat in the world.
Over one hundred years ago, over 100,000 tigers roamed the wilds of India, Sumatra, Siberia, Indonesia, Thailand, and China. Now, however, over 96% of the tiger population has disappeared leaving the entire global population at only 3900 wild tigers. Although huge conservation efforts have slightly increased the number of wild tigers, much work and cooperation is still needed. Tigers, in some places including China, Vietnam, and Thailand are farmed and sold on the black market. Footage of this heartbreaking truth has recently been proved by passionate conservatives whose goal is to present this information to the government in hopes of changing laws on the wildlife trade.
Recently, however, the Coronavirus global pandemic has had a positive effect on the trafficking of endangered species. China has banned all consumption of endangered animals and this will have a positive impact on wildlife.
There are currently four tiger species on our planet: The Malayan tiger, the Sumatran tiger, the Bengal tiger, and the largest of them all: the Siberian or Amur tiger. The Malayan tiger is at the most risk of extinction as there are approximately 350 of them left in the wild, the Sumatran tiger is next, with fewer than 700 individuals. The Amur tiger, however, is at a stable population trend of approximately 500 individuals. The Bengal tiger is the most widespread with a population of 2500 individuals. In Karnataka, there is an extremely healthy population of tigers which make up 10% of the entire world population (400 tigers).
Protecting this iconic predator is a battle humanity must win. Without tigers, it would be a very different world.
