Natural Environment Blog

Project Tiger is the name given to an initiative dedicated to helping save the tiger from extinction. More specifically, Project Tiger is based in India and is therefore generally aimed towards maintaining a healthy population of Bengal tigers in India.

Since its inception in 1973, Project Tiger has been credited with a major increase in Bengal tiger numbers. Project Tiger claimed to have tripled the Bengal tiger population from its 1973 count of around 1,200, to 3,642 tigers in 2001/2002. Unfortunately, a more recent report indicates that the Bengal tiger population has been reduced back to 1,411 due to poaching. The report, published in February 2008, is based on a census carried out in 2007.

Project Tiger carries out their work using the following approach:

• Elimination of all forms of human exploitation and disturbance from the core and rationalisation of such activities in the buffer.
• Limitation of the habitat management to repair damage done by man.
• Researching facts about habitat and wild animals and carefully monitoring changes in flora and fauna.

According to the official website, Project Tiger’s main objective is:

…to ensure a viable population of tiger in India for scientific , economic , aesthetic , cultural and ecological values and to preserve for all time, areas of biological importance as a natural heritage for the benefit, education and enjoyment of the people. Main objectives under the scheme include wildlife management, protection measures and site specific ecodevelopment to reduce the dependency of local communities on tiger reserve resources.

The website also says:

Tiger is symbol of wilderness and well-being of the ecosystem. By conserving and saving tigers the entire wilderness ecosystem is conserved…

When you consider that India’s tiger population dropped from more than 40,000 to around 1,200 in 70 years, and is now only around 1,400, I sure hope Project Tiger can get those tiger numbers back up!

To learn more about Project Tiger, check out the official website.

The world’s tiger population has declined so much, that the tiger has become an endangered species.

According to WWF, over the past 100 years, the world’s tiger population has decreased by 95 per cent and three sub-species have become extinct. Furthermore, in the past 25 years, the tiger population has halved from around 7,000 to about 3,500 - 4,000 tigers left in the world today.

Tiger Count

Less than 100 years ago, there were 9 tiger sub-species. Now there’s only 6.

Out of the 3,500 - 4,000 tigers left in the world today, here’s a breakdown of their population by sub-species:

Threats to the Tiger

So, where have all the tigers gone? WWF provide us with a pretty good clue:

There are probably more tigers on the shelves of pharmacies and medicine stores than in forests as tigers are widely hunted and every single part of their bodies is dissected for use in traditional Asian medicine. Tiger bones, believed to contain high medicinal properties, are popular on the black market in Asia.

The following threats have been (and still are) responsible for the diminishing population of the tiger:

• Hunting, poaching, and illegal trade - For more than 1,000 years, tigers have been hunted as status symbols, decorative items, souvenirs, and traditional Asian medicines.
• Habitat and prey loss - Human population growth has contracted and fragmented the amount of land available for tigers. Tigers need large territories to survive. Also, tigers’ natural prey has often been hunted to extinction or near extinction by humans.
• Conflict with humans and their livestock - Many farmers shoot tigers that are interfering with their livestock.

Unfortunately, it looks highly likely that the South China Tiger will become extinct. All known living tigers all descend from only 6 tigers, which may not provide enough genetic diversity to maintain a sub-species.

Project Tiger - Saving the Bengal Tiger

On a brighter note, the Bengal tiger population has actually increased since 1972, when Project Tiger was initiated. Project Tiger was created to protect the Bengal tiger species. At the time the project was initiated in 1972, there were only around 1,200 Bengal tigers. In the 1990s, the count had increased to 3,500, but 2008 census has dropped this figure back to 1411.

To learn more about Project Tiger, check out the official Project Tiger website.