CREATING A SAFER WORLD FOR TIGERS – AND HUMANS TOO
Despite being one of the most iconic animals in the world, wild tigers remain listed as an Endangered species. Working with international WWF offices, WWF-Australia has supported vital work across five tiger-range landscapes in four countries to protect tiger habitats, reduce human-tiger conflict and end tiger poaching.
Tigers are very territorial and require vast swathes of habitat for their survival. The historic and ongoing clearing of forests and conversion of woodlands to agricultural land poses a serious threat to tigers, with smaller, scattered habitats leaving them more vulnerable as they venture beyond protected areas to find new homes. To improve connectivity between habitats in the Terai Arc Landscape of northern India, WWF-India conducted a study to determine the impact of a major highway on the movement of wildlife, including tigers. These results helped inform a government management plan to ensure safer crossing for tigers throughout the Kosi corridor, between Corbett Tiger Reserve and the nearby Ramnagar Forest Division.
Poaching is also a significant threat to tigers, and sadly, every part of the tiger is still traded in illegal wildlife markets. Living tigers are also sold on the black market as pets and for entertainment.
WWF-Malaysia's Tiger Conservation Program is working to tackle the threat of poaching head-on. A total of 56,215km were patrolled across northern Malaysia in the search for signs of poaching and illegal activity, including snares, hunting hides and bullet cartridges. Covering many terrains, these patrols were conducted by car, motorbike, boat and on foot. Along with these patrolling efforts, which doubled in FY24, 500 camera traps were set up to capture images of tigers and other wildlife as part of a survey to determine the effectiveness of protection efforts. Tigers were documented across 37 sites, and three poachers were identified and reported to authorities.
Creating a safer world for tigers means creating a safer world for communities too. WWF-India has focused on community empowerment and stewardship, training over 190 forest staff and other stakeholders in anti-wildlife-trade workshops. Hundreds more community members, mostly women and youths, across two major landscapes have been trained in sustainable livelihood programs, including ecotourism, beekeeping, clothing design and tailoring, and branding and packaging local products for sale.
As tiger habitats reduce, wild tigers are being forced closer to homes and communities. It’s estimated over 47 million people worldwide live within the boundaries of a tiger range. In total, 325 torch lights, 255 water bottles, 92 pairs of shoes and 142 winter jackets were distributed to community members and forest staff in two key districts within the Indian Brahmaputra landscape to aid in the patrolling of areas where people may come into contact and sometimes conflict, with large animals.