A new tiger “report card” released by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) reveals how the iconic big cats are faring in eight key landscapes spanning nine Asian countries.

The report shows that while tigers are in dire trouble in some areas, they are still hanging on in others. Meanwhile, opportunities to grow tiger populations in landscapes where conservation efforts are beginning to take hold. The report card is a result of “Tigers Forever,” a collaborative initiative between WCS and Panthera, a wild cat conservation group.

The report card looks at key threats to tigers and monitors success in the priority landscapes where WCS and Panthera work to save them: India's Western Ghats, Thailand's Western Forest Complex, the transboundary region between Russia and China, Indonesia's Gunung Leuser landscape, Myanmar's Hukaung Valley, Malaysia's Endau-Rompin Landscape, Laos's Nam Et-Phou Louey, and Cambodia's Eastern Plains. These habitats represent a sample of major ecological types across the tiger's range and were chosen based on scientific assessment of tiger ecology, levels of threat, opportunity for recovery, and long-term security of tiger populations.

 “In this Year of the Tiger, the best way we can celebrate these iconic big cats is by giving them a future,” said WCS President and CEO Steven E. Sanderson. “Each landscape where WCS works presents a unique set of challenges for conservationists, but all are bound by a common vision: to restore tiger numbers wherever possible throughout their range.”

The report gives each of the landscapes a color rating. Green means the prospect for tigers is good with populations stable or increasing and conservation efforts succeeding. Yellow means prospects for tigers are fair with numbers stable but increasingly threatened by significant conservation challenges. Red means tiger numbers are in decline with major threats growing.

Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, President and CEO of Panthera, said, “While the situation with wild tigers is dire, the good news is that we know what is needed to reverse it. Tigers Forever is an effective model that shows us that we can bring tigers back – and we already are at specific sites across the tiger’s range.”

The world's remaining tigers are threatened by poaching, habitat loss and fragmentation, and conflict with humans. There may be as few as 3,000 wild tigers left in the world today, with roughly half of those living in India.

 
WCS's Tiger Program and activities at WCS tiger sites are made possible by contributions from numerous supporters but particularly: 21st Century Tiger; the Blue Moon Fund; E. Lisk Wyckoff, Jr. and the Homeland Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; the Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation; Panthera; the Rhino Tiger Conservation Fund of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; U.S. Forest Service International Program-Russian Far East Conservation, the Patuxent Center of the U.S. Geological Survey the Robertson Foundation; Save The Tiger Fund, a partnership of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the ExxonMobil Foundation; and the World Bank GEF Tiger Futures project.