SAVING TIGERS

Only about 3,500 tigers are left in the wild worldwide. Less than thirty percent of them are female tigers that can have babies. The number of these big cats is going down because of over-population, habitat loss and wildlife trade. Hunters kill tigers for their skins. Also in Asia, people believe that eating tiger parts improves health.

A new study shows that if people hope to save the big cats from extinction, they must concentrate on protected areas. If they can increase the number of tigers in protected areas, in time they can increase the number of tigers in the world.

Most of the world’s tigers are gathered in a small part of their natural habitat. Alan Rabinowitz is the president of a group called “Panthera”. It works to save tigers. Rabinowitz said that concentrating on protected habitats is “necessary right now if we want to save tigers in the wild”.

There are locations that tigers mostly live. They are in India, Indonesia, and other parts of Asia. The study’s authors said that tiger populations in these areas could grow. They suggested monitoring these areas. This will help stop harmful activities in those locations, especially hunting.

“Our goal is to protect and monitor the remaining populations.” the study’s authors reported.

This type of plan has worked successfully so far. It worked well especially in India. India is the home to the most tigers living in the wild at the moment. There are 220 adult tigers living in India. This is one of the largest populations in the world. The high number of tigers in India is because of this program. The program has worked to protect Nagarahole National Park in southern India since 1970.

Scientists believe that in 10 years’ time, there will be more tigers in the world.