WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT TO SAVE TIGERS FROM EXTINCTION
TIGERS HAVE CAPTIVATED PEOPLE AND CULTURES THROUGHOUT HISTORY
Tigers are the largest of the world’s big cats and one of the most fearsome predators on Earth. They are also perilously close to extinction.
In the early 1900s over 100,000 wild tigers roamed Asia, from eastern Turkey to Malaysia, Thailand and even the islands of Java and Bali.
Over the past century we have lost more than 97% of wild tigers, mainly due to poaching and habitat loss. Dense and growing human populations are taking over tiger habitat, reducing prey available to hunt, and increasing tiger/human conflict.
By 2010, only 3,200 tigers remained in the wild - of which 1,411 were found in India.
BRINGING BACK THE ROAR
In response to this crisis, 13 tiger range countries committed to bringing wild tigers back from extinction and doubling their numbers by 2022. Urgent interventions by governments, WWF and our partners to protect wild tigers and critical tiger habitats are working, and tiger populations have nearly doubled to 5,600. However, the threat of extinction is far from over. Below we outline the efforts necessary to ensure their survival and maintain the overall ecological balance in our forests.
TIGERS HAVE CAPTIVATED PEOPLE AND CULTURES THROUGHOUT HISTORY
Tigers are the largest of the world’s big cats and one of the most fearsome predators on Earth. They are also perilously close to extinction.
In the early 1900s over 100,000 wild tigers roamed Asia, from eastern Turkey to Malaysia, Thailand and even the islands of Java and Bali.
Over the past century we have lost more than 97% of wild tigers, mainly due to poaching and habitat loss. Dense and growing human populations are taking over tiger habitat, reducing prey available to hunt, and increasing tiger/human conflict.
By 2010, only 3,200 tigers remained in the wild - of which 1,411 were found in India.
BRINGING BACK THE ROAR
In response to this crisis, 13 tiger range countries committed to bringing wild tigers back from extinction and doubling their numbers by 2022. Urgent interventions by governments, WWF and our partners to protect wild tigers and critical tiger habitats are working, and tiger populations have nearly doubled to 5,600. However, the threat of extinction is far from over. Below we outline the efforts necessary to ensure their survival and maintain the overall ecological balance in our forests.
Five solutions to increase tiger populations
WWF is working with our partners to deliver solutions to increase tiger populations to healthy numbers by:
We need your support to save tigers
The tiger conservation program led by WWF and partners over the past two decades is helping to bring tigers back from the brink of extinction, but the work is far from over. Our immediate priority is getting more tigers in more places. WWF’s goal is that, by 2034, wild tiger populations and distribution are increasing or stable in 22 landscapes across existing and historic tiger range. Protecting and increasing tigers in these landscapes demands a multi-year, multi-pronged, multi-million dollar effort.
We need your support to succeed.
India is critical to the survival of wild tigers
India's leadership with tiger conservation is providing promising results, and India is now home to 65% of the world's wild tiger population. However without continued, coordinated action on an international scale, we could quickly lose the progress we're making.
WWF-Australia supports two critical landscapes in India
We are working in two priority landscapes in India that are very different from one another.
Terai Arc
Protecting a vital tiger strongholdThe 50,000 km2 Terai Arc, spanning Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Bihar, represents one of the most densely populated regions on the planet, but also one of the most ecologically important. It supports 15% of the world’s wild tigers.
Tigers here are at risk because protected areas are fragmented, and tigers share space with humans. Multi-use forests increase human-wildlife conflict and poaching remains a threat.
WWF is working across three landscape corridors to increase connectivity between reserves and provide forestry staff at remote camps with essential infrastructure to improve tiger monitoring and protection (solar power, water filters, radios, security fencing).
Our multifaceted program includes:
Radio collars
Using radio collars to track tigers and understand their movement patterns.
Training forestry staff
Training forestry staff on conservation practices.
Supporting communities
Supporting communities that live with tigers by providing training and connection among volunteers when tiger-human conflict emerges.
It also:
- Supports villages impacted by tiger activity
- Helps women find alternative livelihoods to reduce the risk of coming into conflict with tigers
- Equips communities in areas of tiger movement with motion sensor lights to reduce potential conflict with tigers in the villages.
Two ways you can help
1. Encourage coexistence between humans and wildlife
The key to reducing tiger conflict is reducing human presence in forests when tigers are moving. Women foraging in forests are particularly vulnerable. Supporting alternative livelihoods like weaving and eco-development enables local communities to become economically self-sufficient. Our programs currently support 19 self-help groups in the Terai Arc. This model continues to grow, and we’re also testing how technology can further reduce tiger conflicts.
What’s next?
We'll deploy AI sensor cameras in eight high-conflict areas in the Terai Arc landscape which send real-time alerts when tigers approach, activating village protection forces who can alert local people and prevent attacks. We can use this data to understand trends and plan preventative measures.
We welcome AU$50,000 to deploy 15 AI sensor cameras to help prevent human-tiger conflict.
2. Creating tiger corridors
We need to create tiger corridors so that tigers can safely move between, and live in areas connecting tiger reserves.
Tiger reserves have played a key role in boosting tiger numbers, however tigers don’t know the boundaries of their human-created homes.
Simple, practical tactics can protect tigers and their prey from threats such as car strikes. WWF uses science and planning to influence key risks such as road construction. Whilst a tiger may ably cross a two-lane road with a low-speed limit, they would be at much higher risk crossing a higher speed, multi-land freeway in the same location.
What’s next?
With your support, we could roll out the next tiger corridor blueprint. We need to create tailored corridor strategies and influence government planning departments to ensure tigers are considered in new construction and public works.
Your support can help us create the next tiger corridor blueprint. We'll conduct biological and social surveys and hold workshops to tailor our corridor strategies, and ensure government planning departments consider tiger corridors when planning construction and public works.
We welcome support of AU$50,000 to activate the next tiger corridor.
Karbi Anglong
Developing a new habitat for tigersTo ensure the survival of the tiger, we need to increase safe places for them to live.
Karbi Anglong, within the Brahmaputra landscape of Assam, provides 7,000 km2 of prime potential tiger habitat.
It borders the world famous Kaziranga National Park and tiger reserve. We know that tigers do not stay within the boundaries of protected areas created by humans.
During monsoon floods tigers cross corridors from Kaziranga in neighbouring Karbi Anglong, however little is known about the tigers once they leave Kaziranga, nor how many return.
With better protection, management and community engagement, Karbi Anglong can become a key site for tigers to live.
The biggest opportunity in this landscape is decentralised ownership of large, undisturbed forests, which is unusual in India. Extensive areas of Karbi Anglong forests (>40%) are under the governance of the autonomous tribal Karbi Council, who represent the local communities and villages of the Karbi people, providing an opportunity to develop models of community-based conservation.
Scaling work here is critical to tiger recovery and conservation.
Two ways you can help
1. Support community-based conservation
In Karbi Anglong, we've deployed a team of wildlife and social scientists to collaborate with local communities. Our goal is to establish 200 km2 of Community Conserved Areas (CCAs), tailored to each community's needs.
The Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council is partnering with WWF to explore forest conservation and village development opportunities. This partnership helps WWF understand local challenges and identify opportunities for tiger recovery and community benefits.
Two communities have engaged in extensive sensor camera monitoring, revealing diverse wildlife which includes tiger prey - but no tigers yet. Another community, representing eight villages, has worked with WWF to develop the first Community Conservation Area; an area of ~2,100ha. Their conservation theme is "our forest, our responsibility to conserve it."
What’s next?
To understand wildlife and tiger activity in Karbi Anglong, we must conduct more on-ground surveys. These are crucial for understanding community and wildlife conservation needs. We'll assess tiger presence, prey availability, and work with communities to develop alternative livelihood strategies if needed.
We need to conduct biological and social surveys with five more communities in Karbi Anglong, costing AU$15,000 each.
2. Supporting tiger protection
Tiger survival relies on protection and monitoring in forest areas beyond the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council's jurisdiction, including the interface with Karziranga World Heritage Area / Tiger Reserve.
The Brahmaputra landscape is a hot spot for illegal wildlife trade as it shares international borders that may be exploited by poachers. However, very little is known about tiger behaviour here, and tiger protection and monitoring are key.
Supporting remote forest camps can boost Forest Department presence in vital tiger habitats.
What’s next?
We need forest rangers on the ground. A continual challenge is resourcing forest camps so that rangers can live in, and permanently patrol outside of protected areas.
A camp needs solar lights, a water supply, basic furniture and security fencing. This will allow us to establish monitoring patrols and surveys, increasing tiger protection.
We need support to establish five forest camps for forest rangers at a cost of $25,000 per site – each protecting and patrolling 30 km2 of tiger habitat.
BRING BACK THE ROAR
We welcome enquiries about these two tiger landscapes.
Please contact Katy Le Gall to learn more: klegall@wwf.org.au, 0493 869 358.
Alternatively you can donate today.
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