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Tigers Forever
HIGHLIGHTS
Main Threats
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Loss of tiger habitat due to development
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Unsustainable hunting of tiger prey species
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Hunting of tigers for tiger skins and parts to meet the demand of the illegal wildlife trade
Habitat types
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Tropical moist and dry broadleaf forest
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Boreal forest and temperate mixed forest
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Mangroves
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Tropical & subtropical grasslands, savannas, & shrublands
WCS Involvement
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1963 George Schaller studies tigers and prey in Kanha, India
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1986 Ullas Karanth begins long-term tiger research in Nagarahole, India
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1987 Alan Rabinowitz begins research on felids in Huai Kha Khaeng, Thailand
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1992 Long-term Amur tiger research begins in Russian Far East
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1999 WCS begins systematic tiger surveys in Myanmar
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Today, WCS works with partners to save tigers in 9 countries
Contacts
Nicole Williams
Program Officer
Great Cats Program
Wildlife Conservation Society
International Conservation
Great Cats Program
2300 Southern Blvd.
Bronx, NY 10460 USA
www.wcs.org
Tigers Forever is a cross-cutting initiative between the Great Cats Program and the Asia Program; to learn more about our tiger work in Asia, please visit: www.wcs.org/Asia and www.savingwildplaces.org
For a printable version, please click here
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To learn more about Tigers Forever and how you can support this program, please go to www.tigersforever.org
In 2006, due to the ongoing ‘tiger crisis’ across Asia, Panthera, in collaboration with WCS launched Tigers Forever, an action plan to ensure that tigers remain in the wild forever. This program is founded on an ambitious plan to increase tiger numbers across key WCS sites by 50 percent over the course of 10 years. The concept of putting specific numbers behind goals is not customary in wildlife conservation. Tigers Forever utilizes an adaptive project management framework incorporating rigorous monitoring protocols to determine whether we are on track in achieving our goals. To implement this science-based strategy, Tigers Forever works in close partnership with local governments and NGOs committed to tiger conservation. The focus is on WCS priority sites across India, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos PDR, Indonesia, Russia and China where the potential to increase the numbers of tigers is greatest.
The Human Aspect
In historical times, hundreds of thousands of tigers roamed across Asia; however, tiger populations have plummeted since the 20th century began. Today, tigers occupy only 7 percent of their historical range and are found in 13 countries in Asia, some of which are home to the densest human populations in the world.
Threats
Tigers are faced with a myriad of threats. Their habitat is converted for both agricultural and commercial needs and rural people hunt their prey—including deer, pigs, and wild cattle—for subsistence or for profit, making food scarce. Without sufficient prey, tigers are unable to survive or breed. Tigers themselves are also targets for poachers seeking to supply the increasing demand for the illegal wildlife trade. Other threats include retaliatory killing due to human-wildlife conflict that results from depredation of livestock, and killing out of fear about their proximity to human settlements.
WCS Activities
Beginning with George Schaller’s first ever scientific study of wild tigers in the mid 1960s, WCS conservationists have covered the entire range of activities necessary to address both long- and short-term threats to tigers. These activities include monitoring tiger and prey population dynamics, enhancing local capacity for protection of tigers, prey, and habitats; consolidation of tiger habitats through promotion of voluntary resettlement and land acquisitions; national capacity building in research, outreach, community education, technical training, and formal education; catalyzing the creation of protected areas; and national and global policy interventions.
Most importantly, all of these interventions have been carried out on the ground, in association with local governmental and non-governmental partners who share our dedication to saving tigers. To date, WCS and its partners have generated most of the key scientific data necessary to provide a basis for action. We are using lessons learned from India and the Russian Far East, where WCS has had great success in securing and increasing tiger numbers. These conservation models will be adapted and applied at core WCS Tigers Forever sites across tiger range. An adaptive project management framework, incorporating regular review cycles, allows for correction along the way to make sure we reach our targets.
Important Next Steps
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Every Tigers Forever site has instituted standardized monitoring protocols based on specific action plans and indicators and targets set for that site. Each site’s targets are analyzed yearly. Currently, we are collecting data for our second field season and will analyze this data in mid 2008.
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The tiger’s historic range has been radically reduced and fragmented over time. We are in the beginning steps of connecting fragmented tiger populations by building a genetic corridor extending throughout the foothills of the Himalayas, south through Myanmar, Thailand, and Malaysia, with potential connections into Lao PDR, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
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Continue fundraising to support this groundbreaking initiative. WCS has raised an initial $10 million in seed money from the Panthera Foundation, at $1 million per year for 10 years. In order to reach our goal of a 50% increase in tiger numbers across these sites, we estimate we will need an additional $3 million per year.
Tigers Forever is a cross-cutting initiative between the Great Cats Program and the Asia Program; to learn more about our tiger work in Asia, please visit www.wcs.org/asia
Tigers Forever is a Panthera project in collaboration with WCS
Please visit: www.panthera-foundation.org
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