International Tiger Day... chuff, chuff

• Habitat loss; deforestation for agriculture for instance, and for infrastructure development led to fragmentation of habitat and its destruction.  This also means there’s a lack of prey for tigers to eat.

• Poaching of tigers – for instance their body parts were in demand

• Conflict with people – some of whom took to retaliation attacks after tigers had killed people or livestock.  Tigers are solitary animals and need space which has been getting in short supply.

• Lack of patrols to protect the tigers and a lack of wildlife monitoring

• Climate change has led to more wildfires, destroying habitat and food sources, and causing more droughts. 
  

Tigers are an umbrella species – protect a tiger and tiger habitat, and you’re protecting other species too.  They help maintain the balance of nature - for if there aren't enough of them, herbivores will become too numerous and eat up all the vegetation. Tigers help keep herbivore numbers in check, and that helps ecosystems to survive and thrive - it helps the health of the planet and forests around us. Tigers help keep the planet in good health.

The number of tigers has gone up since 2010, according to the Global Tiger Forum, with 5,711 tigers now in the wild.   But some countries have been more successful than others. In Nepal, numbers have gone up to 355.  The Malaysian tiger has dipped to 150 in number - there were about 3,000 in the 1950s. 

The Global Tiger Forum has all sorts of information about tigers. In 2010, the St. Petersburg Declaration on Tiger brought political will and convergence towards wild tiger conservation - and this included the launch of the Global Tiger Recovery Program. With reviews and monitoring, tiger range countries and partners of like-mind could shape to the Global Tiger Recovery Programme 2.0. This takes an approach of many different themes, such as (and I quote0:

• protection and wildlife crime prevention,

• monitoring and habitat management,

• active management,

• livelihood and green business models for local people,

• landscape strategies for ensuring metapopulation survival,

• securing corridor linkages,

• linkages to one health and climate change approaches,

• conservation of prey/co-predators/meso-predators,

• resource mobilization.
  

Wildlife - and tigers - are depending on all of us.  Forested areas need protecting and managing.   The video shows the importance of monitoring, reporting, researching - and in short, an active ranger presence where rangers are well equipped, well trained, and well protected so that they can protect these stunning animals effectively.  

Such success is not without its challenges, one of them being conflict between humans and tigers.  The Nepal Tiger Trust has come up with a solution to identify and capture problem tigers and remove them.  

Tiger conservation shows how important it is to work with local communities who are, after all, living with these majestic big cats.  Tigers may look gorgeous on You Tube videos, but to come face to face with a huge tiger in the forest when you’re going about your daily business is quite another matter.  It shows how important it is to manage tiger conservation.

In India, the Global Tiger Forum reports that the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve has strengthened human-wildlife conflict response with a Master Control Room. It receives, monitors and co-ordinates real-time information on the movement of wildlife and conflict incidents and that means that there's faster communication and response from field staff and forest officials.

Although you and I aren't sitting round the table with the Global Tiger Forum, there is still much we can do to help organisations helping tigers and to raise awareness of these majestic, beautiful animals. Here are just a few of them:

You could also other tiger conservation work:

• Support Panthera - take a look at their Tigers Forever programme; it monitors populations of tigers and their prey in five tiger range countries (India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal and Thailand) and it supports counter-poaching efforts to make sure protected areas are secure; it also connects and protects tiger habitats and more!

• Wildlife Conservation Society - their goal is to have multiple thriving populations of tigers across their range and in all the habitats where they are found. They are striving to stop the killing and trafficking of tigers, protecting them and their habitats, reducing tiger-human conflict and doing scientific research on tigers which will help inform conservation strategies. There's more they are doing - take a look here

• the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation supports tiger conservation initiatives in India and Thailand; it also provides funding for undercover investigations and exposes into the wildlife trade. It also lobbies at a government level, supporting law enforcement, education and community engagement programmes and habitat protection and more!

• Born Free support the Satpuda Landscape Tiger Partnership - it brings a network of Indian conservationists together in 7 tiger reserves. They are also helping people develop sustainable partnerships, women empowerment schemes, conservation education programmes and a mobile health unit

• Nepal Tiger Trust describe tigers as the guardians of the jungle's ecosystem. They undertake long term monitoring, ot understand tiger movement and behaviour, work with community volunteers to ensure collaborative and proactive patrolling and information sharing and also engage with educational institutions worldwide and local communities to educate and raise awareness

• The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is working to protect Sumatran tigers, as these big cats are under threat from deforestation and forest degradation. The tigers are losing their natural habitat fast, and they are threatened by poaching and human-tiger conflict. ZSL is working with businesses to protect tigers and they are mapping likely threats to land. They also use a SPOTT tool for assessments of businesses - find out about that here.

• Raise awareness on social media #internationaltigerday #globaltigerday #tigerday2025

• Boycott items which have been produced from endangered animals e.g. medicine.  If you know of any information on poaching or trade of illegal wildlife, inform local law enforcement agencies.  Contact TRAFFIC which fights poachers and pass on the information to them.

• Support tough laws which protect wildlife. You could also spread this message from ENV Nature in Vietnam, with their You Tube video called "Safer with Science"

• Support rangers who put their lives on the line protecting endangered species.  Rangers are incredibly brave people, and they need our support. Find out about World Ranger Day on the 31st July

• Support local communities in tiger territories, perhaps by visiting, volunteering or buying products they make.   Responsible Travel have a directory of tiger safaries, if you fancy a tiger related holiday. 

• Be informed by researching other organisations and initiatives helping tigers such as the Global Tiger Forum. International co-operation is essential for conservation; animals have no borders. The Forum is an inter-governmental international body working for wild tiger conservation. It facilitates the research and expertise across the tiger range countries, and a good deal more, covering tiger conservation, its prey and habitat. You can find the Forum on Facebook here.