View source for Biology:Tiger conservation

{{Short description|Wildlife conservation effort to save tigers}}
The [[Biology:Tiger|tiger]] is an iconic species. '''Tiger conservation''' attempts to prevent the animal from becoming extinct and preserving its natural habitat. This is one of the main objectives of the international animal conservation community. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ([[Biology:CITES|CITES]]) has played a crucial role in improving international efforts for tiger conservation.

== CITES ==
CITES is an international [[Philosophy:Governance|governance]] network employing tools and measures which adapt and become more efficient with time.<ref name = "dickson1">Dickson, B. (2002). International conservation treaties, poverty and development: The case of  CITES. ODI Natural Resource Perspectives, 74(January), 4.</ref>  One measure specifically aimed at protecting the [[Biology:Tiger|tiger]] is visible in the network’s efforts to ban the trade of tigers or tiger derivatives.<ref name="dickson1"/> CITES members have agreed to adhere to this international trade ban; once a member states ratifies and implements CITES it bans such trade within its national borders.<ref>CITES. (2011).  {{cite web |url=http://www.cites.org/eng/disc/parties/index.shtml |title=List of Parties |accessdate=2011-09-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927012459/http://www.cites.org/eng/disc/parties/index.shtml |archivedate=2011-09-27 }}</ref>

The CITES Secretariat is administrated by the UNEP<ref name="unep">CITES. (2011). {{cite web |url=http://www.cites.org/eng/disc/sec/index.shtml |title=The CITES Secretariat |accessdate=2009-01-09 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122030721/http://www.cites.org/eng/disc/sec/index.shtml |archivedate=2009-01-22 }}</ref> which works closely with NGOs such as The Trade Records Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce (TRAFFIC) to assist member states with the implementation of the convention.  States are provided with training and information about requirements (when necessary), and their progress and a compliance are monitored and evaluated.<ref name="unep"/><ref>Gemmill, B. and  Bamidele-Izu, A. (2010).  The Role of NGOs and Civil Society in Global Environmental Governance http://environment.research.yale.edu/documents/downloads/a-g/gemmill.pdf (Accessed 20 March 2011).</ref>

In order for CITES to work effectively it requires the involvement of institutions, NGOs, civil society and member states: especially Asian tiger range member countries. The Tiger Range Countries (TRC) – countries where tigers still roam free – are:  

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* {{BAN}}
* {{BHU}}
* {{CAM}}
* {{CHN}}
* {{IND}} (Leads almost 70% population)
* {{INA}}
* {{LAO}}
* {{MAS}}
* {{MYA}}
* {{NEP}}
* {{RUS}}
* {{THA}}
* {{VIE}}
* {{PRK}}{{Div col end}}

While there have been no recent tigers sightings in North Korea, it is the only country listed which has not ratified CITES.<ref>CITES (2011). http://www.cites.org/eng/disc/parties/alphabet.shtml</ref><ref>{{cite iucn|title=''Panthera tigris''|page=e.T15955A50659951|author=Goodrich, J.|date=2015|volume=2015|access-date=19 November 2021|author2=Lynam, A.|author3=Miquelle, D.|author4=Wibisono, H.|author5=Kawanishi, K.|author6=Pattanavibool, A.|author7=Htun, S.|author8=Tempa, T.|author9=Karki, J.|author10=Jhala, Y.|author11=Karanth, U.|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T15955A50659951.en}}</ref>

The 13 TRC who are CITES member states recently held a conference in Russia and jointly vowed to double the estimated number of tigers left in the wild (3200).<ref name="wwf1">{{Cite web |title=Year of the Tiger ends with roadmap to save species |url=https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?199237/Year-of-the-Tiger-ends-with-roadmap-to-save-species |access-date=2022-07-24 |website=wwf.panda.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name = "wwf2">WWF. (2010). http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/tigers/index.html (Accessed 20 March 2011).</ref>  [[Biology:Poaching|Poaching]], however, remains a very significant problem in all 13 TRC, despite the implementation of CITES regulations within their borders.<ref name="wwf1"/>

In the 15th CITES conference held in [[Place:Doha|Doha]], Qatar in March 2010, all party members agreed to stricter agreements between members states to protect the tiger.<ref name="wwf2"/> However the {{wipe|United Nations}} warned that tigers are still at risk of becoming extinct as members states are currently failing to clamp down hard on the illegal trade of tigers and tiger derivatives within their borders.<ref name = "bbc1">Black, R. (2010). Tiger decline is 'sign of world's failure'. BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8568035.stm</ref>

Although CITES has been successful in curbing this illegal trade, CITES as an international institution relies on member states to effectively implement conventions within their national borders.  The quality of such implementation varies significantly within member states.<ref>TRAFFIC.  (1997).  Tiger Progress? The Response to CITES Resolution Conf. 9.13. Traffic International, Cambridge.</ref><ref>TRAFFIC.  (1997).  Rhinoceros Horn and Tiger Bone in China: An
Investigation of Trade Since the 1993 Ban. Traffic International, Cambridge.</ref>  For example, Thailand implemented [[Biology:CITES|CITES]] policies to a very high standard but the illegal tiger trade is still rife within this country.<ref>WWF. (2010). http://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/laos/?197018/The-Big-Cat-Trade-in-Myanmar-and-Thailand (Accessed 23 March 2011).</ref>  A governance structure such as CITES is powerless to control issues such as poaching unless it has the full cooperation of all actors, including the state.

Another reason why CITES seems to be failing could be ascribed to the lucrative nature of the tiger trade. The World Bank estimates that the illegal international trade of wildlife on the black market is worth an estimated $10bn per year.<ref name="bbc1"/>  By selling one tiger skeleton, a poacher could make an amount equal to what some labourer would earn in 10 years.<ref>Seaworld.org http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/tiger/longevity.htm  (Accessed 28 March 2011)</ref>

A report released by the [[Organization:International Union for Conservation of Nature|International Union for Conservation of Nature]] reported that wild tiger populations were 40% higher than previously estimated, with between 3,726 and 5,578 tigers believed to be in the wild.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wild Tiger Numbers 40 Percent Higher Than Previously Estimated |url=https://e360.yale.edu/digest/tiger-population-40-percent-higher |access-date=2022-07-24 |website=Yale E360 |language=en-US}}</ref> Despite these improvements, populations of tigers have declined precipitously in Malaysia and are now likely extinct in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

==India==
[[Image:Tiger map.svg|thumb|left|Comparison in distribution historically and 2006]]
Project Tiger started in 1973, is a major effort to conserve the tiger and its habitats in {{wipe|India}}.<ref>[http://projecttiger.nic.in/ Project Tiger] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160211162057/http://projecttiger.nic.in/ |date=2016-02-11 }} Accessed Feb, 2007</ref> At the turn of the 20th century, one estimate of the tiger [[Social:Population|population]] in India placed the figure at 40,000, yet an Indian tiger census conducted in 1972 revealed the existence of only 1,827 tigers. Various pressures in the latter part of the 20th century led to the progressive decline of wilderness resulting in the disturbance of viable tiger habitats. At the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) General Assembly meeting in [[Place:Delhi|Delhi]] in 1969, serious concern was voiced about the threat to several wildlife [[Biology:Species|species]], and the shrinkage of wilderness in India from poaching. In 1970, a national ban on tiger hunting was imposed, and in 1972 the Wildlife Protection Act came into force. The framework was then set to formulate a project for tiger conservation with an [[Earth:Ecology|ecological]] approach.

Project Tiger aims at tiger conservation in specially-constituted [[Biology:Tiger reserves of India|tiger reserves]], which are representative of various bio-geographical regions in the country. It strives to maintain viable tiger populations in their natural environment. As of 2019, there are 50 tiger reserves in India, covering an area of {{convert|37761|km2|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Koulgi, P. S. |author2=Clinton, N. |author3=Karanth, K. K. |name-list-style=amp |year=2019 |title=Extensive vegetation browning and drying in forests of India's Tiger Reserves |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=14976 |doi=10.1038/s41598-019-51118-8|pmid=31628360 |pmc=6802094 |bibcode=2019NatSR...914976K }}</ref>

At the [[Unsolved:Kalachakra|Kalachakra]] Tibetan Buddhist festival in India in January 2006, the Dalai Lama preached a ruling against using, selling, or buying wild animals, their products, or derivatives. When Tibetan pilgrims returned to Tibet afterwards, his words resulted in the widespread destruction by Tibetans of their wild animal skins, including tiger and [[Biology:Leopard|leopard]] skins used as ornamental garments.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/technology/dalai-lama-offers-indian-tigers-a-lifeline-1.268379|title=Dalai Lama offers Indian tigers a lifeline|last=Denyer|first=Simon|date=6 March 2006|publisher=IOL SciTech|accessdate=23 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| title = Dalai Lama campaigns for wildlife| work = BBC| accessdate = 2011-09-23| date = 2005-04-06| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4415929.stm}}</ref>

In 2010 India signed an agreement, along with 12 other countries with tiger populations, to double its tiger numbers by 2022.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/29/india-wild-tiger-population-rises-conservation|title=India's wild tiger population rises 33% in four years|last=Ratcliffe|first=Rebecca|date=29 July 2019|accessdate=26 January 2021|work= The Guardian}}</ref> India’s 2014 tiger census showed a population of 2,226, a sharp increase from its all-time low of 1,411 in 2006 and about a 30% increase from its tiger population in 2011. <ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/indias-tiger-population-bounces-to-2226-from-a-low-of-1411-48314|title=India's tiger population bounces to 2,226 from a low of 1,411|last=Shrivastava|first=Kumar Sambhav|date=20 January 2015|accessdate=26 January 2021|work=Down To Earth}}</ref> A comprehensive survey from 2018 showed a tiger population of 2,962, an increase of 33% from the 2014 numbers,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/29/india-wild-tiger-population-rises-conservation|title=India's wild tiger population rises 33% in four years|last=Ratcliffe|first=Rebecca|date=29 July 2019|accessdate=26 January 2021|work= The Guardian}}</ref> although independent researchers and conservation experts have suggested that the promising tiger numbers be used with some caution.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03267-z|title=India's tigers seem to be a massive success story — many scientists aren't sure|last=Vaidyanathan|first=Gayathri|date=30 October 2019|accessdate=26 January 2021|work= Nature, News Feature}}</ref>

==China==
In China, tigers became the target of large-scale ‘anti-pest’ campaigns in the early 1950s, where suitable habitats were fragmented following deforestation and resettlement of people to rural areas, who hunted tigers and prey species. Though tiger hunting was prohibited in 1977, the population continued to decline and is considered extinct in southern China since 2001.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Dramatic decline of wild South China tigers ''Panthera tigris amoyensis'': field survey of priority tiger reserves |author=Tilson, R. |author2=Defu, H. |author3=Muntifering, J. |author4=Nyhus, P. J. |year=2004 |journal=Oryx |volume=38 |issue=1|pages=40–47 |doi=10.1017/S0030605304000079|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite iucn |publisher=IUCN |author=Nyhus, P. |year=2008 |title=''Panthera tigris'' ssp. ''amoyensis'' |page=e.T15965A5334628 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T15965A5334628.en |url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15965/5334628}}</ref>
In northeastern China's Hunchun National Nature Reserve, camera-traps recorded a tiger with four cubs for the first time in 2012.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Wang, T.M. |author2=Yang, H.T. |author3=Xiao, W.H. |author4=Feng, L.M. |author5=Mou, P. |author6=Ge, J. P. |year=2014 |title=Camera traps reveal Amur tiger breeding in NE China |journal=Cat News |issue=61 |pages=18–19}}</ref> During subsequent surveys, between 27 and 34 tigers were documented along the China–Russia border.<ref name=Wang_al2016>{{cite journal |title=Amur tigers and leopards returning to China: direct evidence and a landscape conservation plan |author=Wang, T. |author2=Feng, L. |author3=Mou, P. |author4=Wu, J. |author5=Smith, J.L. |author6=Xiao, W. |author7=Yang, H. |author8=Dou, H. |author9=Zhao, X. |author10=Cheng, Y. |author11=Zhou, B. |journal=Landscape Ecology |year=2016 |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=491–503 |doi=10.1007/s10980-015-0278-1|s2cid=10597364 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Estimating abundance and density of Amur tigers along the Sino–Russian border |author=Xiao, W. |author2=Feng, L. |author3=Mou, P. |author4=Miquelle, D.G. |author5=Hebblewhite, M. |author6=Goldberg, J.F. |author7=Robinson, H.S. |author8=Zhao, X. |author9=Zhou, B. |author10=Wang, T. |author11=Ge, J. |journal=Integrative Zoology |year=2016 |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=322–332 |doi=10.1111/1749-4877.12210|pmid=27136188}}</ref>

During the early 1970s, such as in the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, China rejected the Western-led environmentalist movement as an impeachment on the full use of its own resources. However, this stance softened during the 1980s, as China emerged from diplomatic isolation and desired normal trade relations with Western countries. China became a party to the [[Biology:CITES|CITES]] treaty in 1981, bolstering efforts at tiger conservation by transnational groups like Project Tiger, which were supported by the [[Organization:United Nations Development Programme|United Nations Development Programme]] and the [[Organization:World Bank|World Bank]]. In 1988, China passed the Law on the Protection of Wildlife, listing the tiger as a Category I protected species. In 1993, China banned the trade on tiger parts, which led to a drop in the number of tiger bones harvested for use in [[Medicine:Traditional Chinese medicine|traditional Chinese medicine]].<ref name="Yeh">{{cite journal|title=Transnational Environmentalism and Entanglements of Sovereignty: The Tiger Campaign Across the Himalayas|first=Emily T.|last=Yeh|journal=Political Geography|volume=31|issue=7|year=2012|pages=408–418|doi=10.1016/j.polgeo.2012.06.003}}</ref> 

In 2008, the UK newspaper the ''Sunday Telegraph'' published an expose on the illegal sale of tiger bones from protect tiger sanctuaries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tiger sanctuaries selling bone for Chinese medicine against international law |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/2090020/Tiger-sanctuaries-selling-bone-for-Chinese-medicine-against-international-law.html |access-date=2022-07-24 |website=www.telegraph.co.uk|date=7 June 2008 }}</ref> Subsequently, in 2018, the State Council of the People's Republic of China proposed a new order that would allow for the use of farmed tiger bones in medical research and treatment - this sparked a significant international backlash. While the implementation of the order was delayed, the order itself was not rescinded.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Coals |first1=Peter |last2=Moorhouse |first2=Tom P. |last3=D’Cruze |first3=Neil C. |last4=Macdonald |first4=David W. |last5=Loveridge |first5=Andrew J. |date=2020-10-01 |title=Preferences for lion and tiger bone wines amongst the urban public in China and Vietnam |journal=Journal for Nature Conservation |language=en |volume=57 |pages=125874 |doi=10.1016/j.jnc.2020.125874 |bibcode=2020JNatC..5725874C |s2cid=224903164 |issn=1617-1381|doi-access=free }}</ref> On 25 October 2018, the 25-year ban against the use of rhino horn and tiger body parts was lifted.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-10-30 |title=Rhino horn: Alarm as China eases 25-year ban on rhino and tiger parts |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46027702 |access-date=2022-07-24}}</ref>

=== Tiger trade in Tibet ===
However, as the tiger bone trade was undermined by effective Chinese legislation in the 1990s, the Tibetan people's trade in tiger pelts emerged as a relatively more important threat to tigers. As wealth in the Tibetan areas increased, singers and participants in annual Tibetan horse races began to wear ''chuba'' (traditional Tibetan robes) with trimmed with tiger, otter, and leopard fur. Clothing ornamented with tiger pelts became a standard of beauty, and even mandatory at weddings, with Tibetan families competing to buy larger and larger pelts to demonstrate their [[Social:Social status|social status]].<ref name="Yeh" /> 

In 2003, Chinese customs officials in Tibet intercepted 31 tigers, 581 leopards, and 778 otters, which, if sold in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, would have netted $10,000, $850, and $250 respectively. By 2004, international conservation organizations such as [[Organization:World Wide Fund for Nature|World Wide Fund for Nature]], [[Organization:Fauna and Flora International|Fauna and Flora International]], and [[Organization:Conservation International|Conservation International]] were targeting Tibetans in China in successful environmental propaganda campaigns against the tiger skin trade. In the summer of 2005, the [[Organization:Environmental Investigation Agency|Environmental Investigation Agency]] sent undercover teams to Litang and Nagchu in order to film documentation of Tibetan violations of Chinese environmental law for submission to the Chinese CITES office. In April 2005, Care for the Wild International and Wildlife Trust of India confronted the [[Biography:14th Dalai Lama|14th Dalai Lama]] about the Tibetan trade, and his response was recorded as "awkward" and "ambushed", with suspicion against the NGOs for trying to "dramatize" the situation as "mak[ing] it seem as if Tibetans were the culprit".<ref name="Yeh" />

=== Conservation efforts ===
In 2017, China established the largest tiger protection area in the world, the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park, along the shared border with Russia and North Korea.<ref>{{Cite web |title=In New Park, China Creates a Refuge for the Imperiled Siberian Tiger |url=https://e360.yale.edu/features/china-carves-out-a-park-for-the-imperiled-siberian-tiger |access-date=2022-07-24 |website=Yale E360 |language=en-US}}</ref> To create sufficient habitat for tigers, leopards, and sufficient sources of prey animals, Chinese officials planned to relocate between 70,000 and 80,000 residents either to the outside of the park or into a few settlements permitted within the park’s boundaries. The park was officially launched on 12 October 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park officially launched |url=http://english.jl.gov.cn/NEWS/LOCALNEWS/202110/t20211018_8250261.html |access-date=2022-07-24 |website=english.jl.gov.cn}}</ref> Although the park is the largest of its kind, researchers from the Northeast Forestry University in Harbin have suggested that the park's capacity is insufficient to support the sustained existence of a [[Biology:Siberian tiger|Siberian tiger]] population.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wen |first1=Dusu |last2=Qi |first2=Jinzhe |last3=Long |first3=Zexu |last4=Gu |first4=Jiayin |last5=Tian |first5=Yumiao |last6=Roberts |first6=Nathan James |last7=Yang |first7=Eryan |last8=Kong |first8=Weiyao |last9=Zhao |first9=Yan |last10=Sun |first10=Quan |last11=Jiang |first11=Guangshun |date=June 2022 |title=Conservation potentials and limitations of large carnivores in protected areas: A case study in Northeast China |journal=Conservation Science and Practice |language=en |volume=4 |issue=6 |doi=10.1111/csp2.12693 |s2cid=248197598 |issn=2578-4854|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Other areas==
Forest cover in Vietnam has been reduced to less than 15% of the original extent before the 1940s, due to warfare, illegal logging, and slash and burn agricultural practices. The tiger is legally protected in the country since 1960, but trade of tiger body parts continued to the mid 1990s.<ref name=Rabinowitz99>{{Cite book |author=Rabinowitz, A. |year=1999 |chapter=The status of the Indochinese tiger: separating facts from fiction |title=Riding the Tiger: Tiger Conservation in Human-Dominated Landscapes |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=London |isbn=978-0521648356 |editor1-last=Seidensticker |editor1-first=J. |editor2-last=Christie |editor2-first=S. |editor3-last=Jackson |editor3-first=P. |pages=148−165}}</ref> Tigers were still present in northern Vietnam bordering China in the 1990s.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The status of the tiger in 1996 |author=Jackson, P. |year=1996 |issue=25 |page=6 |journal=Cat News}}</ref> As of 2015, this population is considered possibly extinct.<ref name=IUCN>{{Cite iucn | author1 = Goodrich, J. | author2 = Lynam, A. | author3 = Miquelle, D. | author4 = Wibisono, H. | author5 = Kawanishi, K. | author6 = Pattanavibool, A. | author7 = Htun, S. | author8 = Tempa, T. | author9 = Karki, J. | author10 = Jhala, Y. | author11 = Karanth, U. | title = ''Panthera tigris'' | volume = 2015 | page = e.T15955A50659951 | publisher = IUCN | date = 2015 | url = https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15955/50659951 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T15955A50659951.en | access-date = 23 October 2018}}</ref>

In Laos, 14 tigers were documented in semi-evergreen and evergreen forest interspersed with grassland in Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area during surveys from 2013 to 2017.<ref name=Rasphone_al2019>{{cite journal |author1=Rasphone, A. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Kéry, M. |author3=Kamler, J.F. |author4=Macdonald, D.W. |year=2019 |title=Documenting the demise of tiger and leopard, and the status of other carnivores and prey, in Lao PDR's most prized protected area: Nam Et-Phou Louey |journal=Global Ecology and Conservation |volume=20 |pages=e00766 |doi=10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00766|doi-access=free}}</ref> In Sumatra, tiger populations range from lowland peat swamp forests to rugged montane forests.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Wibisono, H. T. |author2=Linkie, M. |author3=Guillera-Arroita, G. |author4=Smith, J. A. |author5=Sunarto |author6=Pusarini, W. |author7=Asriadi |author8=Baroto, P. |author9=Brickle, N. |author10=Dinata, Y. |author11=Gemita, E. |author12=Gunaryadi, D. |author13=Haidir, I. A. |author14=Herwansyah |year=2011 |title=Population Status of a Cryptic Top Predator: An Island-Wide Assessment of Tigers in Sumatran Rainforests |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=6 |issue=11 |page=e25931 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0025931 |pmid=22087218 |pmc=3206793 |bibcode=2011PLoSO...625931W|doi-access=free}}</ref> The tiger population in Laos was already depleted when National Biodiversity Conservation Areas were established in 1993.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Berkmüller |first1=K. |last2=Evans |first2=T. |last3=Timmins |first3=R. |last4=Vongphet |first4=V. |year=1995 |title=Recent advances in nature conservation in the Lao PDR |journal=Oryx |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=253–260 |doi=10.1017/S0030605300021244|doi-access=free }}</ref> By the late 1990s, tigers were still present in at least five conservation areas. Hunting of tigers for illegal trade of body parts and opportunistic hunting of tiger prey species were considered the main threats to the country's tiger population.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Duckworth |first1=J. W. |last2=Salter |first2=R. E. |last3=Khounboline |first3=K. |year=1999 |title=Wildlife in Lao PDR. 1999 Status Report |location=Vientiane |publisher=IUCN, Wildlife Conservation Society, Centre for Protected Areas and Watershed Management |isbn=978-2-8317-0483-8}}</ref> Five tigers were recorded in Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area between April 2003 and June 2004. Large wild prey species occurred at low densities so that tigers hunted small prey and livestock, which probably affected their reproduction negatively.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=A. |last2=Vongkhamheng C. |last3=Hedemark |first3=M. |last4=Saithongdam T. |year=2006 |title=Effects of human–carnivore conflict on tiger (Panthera tigris) and prey populations in Lao PDR |journal=Animal Conservation |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=421–430 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-1795.2006.00049.x |s2cid=73637721 |url=http://faculty.nelson.wisc.edu/treves/pubs/Arlyne/animal_cons.pdf}}</ref>

In Cambodia, tigers were sighted in remote forest areas in the mid 1980s. Protected areas were established in 1993, but large extents of forest outside these areas were given as logging concessions to foreign companies.<ref name=Rabinowitz99/> In 1998, interviewed hunters corroborated tiger presence in the Cardamom and Dâmrei Mountains.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nowell |first1=K. |last2=Sun |first2=H. |last3=Weiler |first3=H. |last4=Smith |first4=D. J. L. |year=1999 |title=National status survey for tigers in Cambodia |journal=Cat News |issue=30 |pages=4–8}}</ref> During surveys between 1999 and 2007 in nine protected areas and more than 300 locations across the country, tigers were recorded only in the Mondulkiri Protected Forest and in Virachey National Park. The country's tiger population was therefore considered extremely small.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gray |first1=T. N. E. |last2=Ou R. |last3=Huy K. |last4=Pin C. |last5=Maxwell |first5=A. L. |year=2012 |title=The status of large mammals in eastern Cambodia: a review of camera trapping data 1999–2007 |journal=Cambodian Journal of Natural History |volume=2012 |issue=1 |pages=42–55 |url=http://frontier-es.org/Publications/Files/2013_01_04_14_22_49_788.pdf#page=44}}</ref> As of 2015, it is considered possibly extinct.<ref name=IUCN/>
In Thailand, forests were protected by establishing 81 national parks, 39 wildlife sanctuaries and 49 non-hunting areas between 1962 and 1996, including 12 protected areas exceeding {{convert|1000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}. Logging was banned in 1989.<ref name=Rabinowitz99/> Despite this extensive protected area network, tigers were recorded in 10 of 17 protected area complexes during countrywide surveys between 2004 and 2007. Tiger density was lower than predicted on basis of available forest habitat.<ref name="Lynam2010"/> 

The Myanmar tiger population was limited to the Tanintharyi Region and Hukaung Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in 2006.<ref name="Lynam2010">{{cite journal |last1=Lynam |first1=A. J. |year=2010 |title=Securing a future for wild Indochinese tigers: Transforming tiger vacuums into tiger source sites |journal=Integrative Zoology |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=324–334 |doi=10.1111/j.1749-4877.2010.00220.x |pmid=21392350 }}</ref> The country is home to two tiger populations, Bengal and Indochinese tigers. In 1996, the composition of the two populations was 60% Bengal tigers and 40% Indochinese tigers. The natural ecological divide for these two populations is assumed to be the Irrawaddy River, but there is no scientific evidence for that hypothesis. DNA studies are needed to confirm it.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zaw Htun |first1=Naing |date=2004 |title=Current status and threats to the survival of wild tigers in Myanmar |url=https://www.cabi.org/gara/mobile/abstract/20153021712 |journal=Journal of Agricultural, Forestry, Livestock and Fishery Sciences |volume= |issue= |pages=62–72 |doi= |access-date=17 May 2022}}</ref> Today, the presence of tigers was confirmed in the Hukawng Valley, Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary, and in two small areas in the Tanintharyi Region. The Tenasserim Hills is an important area, but forests are harvested there.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Lynam, A. J. |author2=Saw Tun Khaing |author3=Khin Maung Zaw |name-list-style=amp |year=2006 |title=Developing a national tiger action plan for the Union of Myanmar |journal=Environmental Management |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=30–39 |doi=10.1007/s00267-004-0273-9 |pmid=16362487 |bibcode=2006EnMan..37...30L |s2cid=20467948}}</ref> In 2015, tigers were recorded by camera traps for the first time in the hill forests of Kayin State.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Saw Sha Bwe Moo |author2=Froese, G. Z. L. |author3=Gray, T. N. E. |name-list-style=amp |year=2017 |title=First structured camera-trap surveys in Karen State, Myanmar, reveal high diversity of globally threatened mammals |journal=Oryx |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=537–543 |doi=10.1017/S0030605316001113 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In Peninsular Malaysia, tigers occur only in four protected areas exceeding {{convert|400|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Kawanishi2015>{{cite iucn |publisher=IUCN |author=Kawanishi, K. |date=2015 |title=''Panthera tigris'' subsp. ''jacksoni'' |page=e.T136893A50665029 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T136893A50665029.en |url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/136893/50665029}}</ref> The last tiger in [[Place:Singapore|Singapore]] was shot in 1932.<ref name=Khan1986>{{cite journal |author=Khan, M.K.M. |year=1986 |title=Tigers in Malaysia |journal=Journal of Wildlife and Parks |volume=V |pages=1–23 |url=http://www.wildlife.gov.my/images/document/penerbitan/jurnal/Jil51986.pdf}}</ref>

==Conservation organisations==
One of the biggest threats to tiger populations is [[Biology:Habitat fragmentation|habitat fragmentation]].  A program called the Terai-Arc Landscape (TAL) has been working directly with improving tiger habitats, specifically fragmented habitats in Nepal and northern India.<ref name="Dinerstein, E. 2010">Dinerstein, E. et al. (2010) The Evolution of Landscape-Scale Conservation in Developing Nations:  The Terai-Arc Landscape. Case Study for Principles of Conservation Biology, 4th Edition, Groom, M.J., Vynne, C., Meffe, G.K., and R.C. Carroll. Sinauer Associates, Forthcoming in 2013.</ref> Their main strategy is to link up the subpopulations of tigers that have been separated by setting up special tiger corridors that connect the fragmented habitats.<ref name="Dinerstein, E. 2010"/> The corridors are built to promote migration and/or dispersion of certain tiger populations giving them the ability to unite with other tigers.<ref>Dinerstein, E. et al. (2010) The Evolution of Landscape-Scale Conservation in Developing Nations:  The Terai Arc Landscape. Case Study for Principles of Conservation Biology, 4th Edition, Groom, M.J., Vynne, C., Meffe, G.K., and R.C. Carroll. Sinauer Associates, Forthcoming in 2013.</ref> Giving tigers the ability to mate with a larger selection of individuals will increase the gene pool for the tigers, which will lead to more diversity, higher birth rates, and higher cub survival.

Panthera is a conservation organization that’s the main goal is to preserve wild cats focusing on tigers, [[Biology:Lion|lion]]s, [[Biology:Snow leopard|snow leopard]]s, and [[Biology:Jaguar|jaguar]]s.<ref>Panthera. (2012). http://www.panthera.org/ (Accessed on 5 March 2012).</ref> In July 2006, Panthera collaborated with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to form Tigers Forever, one of their main tiger projects.<ref name="panthera.org">Panthera. (2012). http://www.panthera.org/programs/tiger/tigers-forever (Accessed 5 March 2012).</ref> Tigers Forever plans to increase the number of tigers in key areas by 50% over ten years.<ref name="panthera.org"/> Key Areas include: {{wipe|India}}, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia and Indonesia.<ref name="panthera.org"/> This project is experimental and hopes to increase the number of tigers by eliminating human threats and monitoring tiger and prey populations.<ref name="panthera.org"/> To accomplish these goals they are increasing the amount and quality of law enforcement in these areas and working with informants to catch poachers.<ref name="panthera.org"/> Another project spearheaded by Panthera is the Tiger Corridor Initiative (TCI).<ref name="Panthera. 2012">Panthera. (2012). http://www.panthera.org/programs/tiger/tiger-corridor-initiative (Accessed 5 March 2012).</ref> Human development in the Tiger Range Countries (TRC) has left many tiger habitats fragmented. Habitat fragmentation leads to a division of tiger populations, which reduces the gene pool and makes it difficult for tigers to reproduce. The TCI is a new project, very similar to the Terai-Arc Landscape (TAL) project that plans to link protected core populations of tigers with one another using corridors that will provide safe passage for tigers.<ref name="Panthera. 2012"/> This will give the separated tiger populations access to each other, which in theory should increase the number of tigers as well as genetic diversity.<ref name="Panthera. 2012"/>

Another organization involved with the conservation of tigers is the Save the Tiger Fund (STF). The STF was founded in 1995 by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and focuses on preserving wild tigers.<ref name="ReferenceA">Panthera. (2012). http://www.panthera.org/programs/tiger/save-tiger-fund (Accessed 5 March 2012).</ref> The STF has contributed over $10.6 million and participated in a total of 196 conservation efforts that provide a number of services to help to mitigate the human-tiger conflict, protect tiger habitats, research tiger [[Earth:Ecology|ecology]], monitor tiger populations, and educate locals on the importance of saving the tiger.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>WiserEarth. (2011). http://www.wiserearth.org/organization/view/ace06daa52c3ee0bac508c371b762f40 (Accessed 5 March 2012).</ref> The STF also participates in a grant program and has given a total of $1700.3 billion in the form of 33600 grants to the tiger range countries (TRC) to help protect the existing populations.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> [[Company:ExxonMobil|ExxonMobil]] is the number one contributor to the STF donating nearly $12 million between 1995 and 2004.<ref>Gratwicke, B,  Seidensticker, J., Shrestha, M. Vermilye, K and Birnbaum, M. (2006). Staving off extinction: a decade of investments to save the world’s last wild tigers (1995–2004). Save The Tiger Fund, Washington DC.</ref> Currently the STF has teamed up with Panthera to form the STF-Panthera Partnership.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> They plan to combine their expertise in tiger conservation to help save the wild tiger.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

The World Wildlife Fund ([[Organization:World Wide Fund for Nature|WWF]]) also contributes to tiger conservation. They have set an ambitious goal called Tx2 to double the wild tiger population by 2022, the next Chinese [[Unsolved:Tiger (zodiac)|Year of the Tiger]].<ref>WWF. (1887). http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/tigers/index.html (Accessed 5 March 2012).</ref> To reach this goal, their primary efforts lie in protecting landscapes where they feel tigers have the highest chance of surviving and increasing, preventing poaching, and working to decrease demand for tiger parts.<ref name="worldwildlife.org">WWF. (2012). http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/tigers/index.html (Accessed 5 March 2012).</ref> Much of the funding for this project comes from a partnership between the WWF and Leonardo DiCaprio called Save Tigers Now.<ref name="savetigersnow.org">Save Tigers Now. (2011). http://www.savetigersnow.org/ (Accessed 5 March 2012).</ref> Save Tigers Now focuses on fundraising to help the WWF meet their Tx2 goal.<ref name="savetigersnow.org"/> During the last Year of the Tiger, 2010, a summit called the International Tiger Conservation Forum was held in Russia to discuss efforts to save the tiger.<ref name="worldwildlife.org"/> This meeting led to contributions totaling $127 million from the governments involved to support tiger conservation and an agreement to participate in the Global Tiger Recovery Program developed by the Global Tiger Initiative over the next five years from all 13 of the Tiger Range Countries.<ref name="worldwildlife.org"/>

The Global Tiger Initiative is an alliance between governments created to save wild tigers from going extinct founded in June 2008. Among other successful conservation programs, the GTI developed The Global Tiger Recovery Program (GRTP) to assist in reaching the goal of doubling the number of wild tigers through effective management and restoration of tiger habitats; the elimination of poaching, smuggling, and illegal trade of tigers, and their parts; collaboration to manage borders and in stopping illegal trade; working with indigenous and local communities; and returning tigers to their former range.<ref>GTI. (2016). https://web.archive.org/web/20161129161108/http://www.globaltigerinitiative.org/</ref>

[[Organization:WildTeam|WildTeam]] uses a social marketing approach to create innovative, community-based conservation solutions to help save tigers in the Sundarbans of India. WildTeam has developed a system of volunteer village teams that save tigers that stray into villages and reduce human-tiger conflict.

== Data collection techniques ==

Data collection is required to know where conservation efforts and resources need to be applied. To collect such data, techniques such as radio collars and capture-recapture population estimation models have been used to collect population numbers.<ref name=Sharma>Sharma, Rishi Kumar, and Yadvendradev Jhala. (2011). “Monitoring Tiger Populations Using Intensive Search in a Capture–Recapture Framework.” Population Ecology. 53:373–381. doi: 10.1007/s10144-010-0230-9</ref> To specify, “tiger searching” is a basic method that involves either riding elephants or driving off-road vehicles into tiger territory and identifying individuals as well as their locations.<ref name=Sharma />  The [[Biology:Pugmark|pugmark]] census technique is also used during these travels. This involves observing paw prints in the ground and taking measurements of width, length and indentation to determine the individual that was in the location.<ref name=Sharma /> Dogs are also used to assist tracking the tiger by smell. Once the tigers are found, photographs, drawings and notes regarding sex, location, and other details of the individual are taken and sent back to the study camp.<ref name=Sharma /> There are also multiple reserves that allow professional guided tourists to explore via elephant mahout, where sightings are recorded if tigers are seen along the trails.<ref name=Sharma />

Another method, referred to as “camera traps” involves setting up surveying cameras that activate when there is movement detected and will spontaneously take multiple photographs of the area.<ref name=Sharma /> Camera traps are not often used by reserve management due to their expense and the need for trained personal to operate the equipment, but are becoming more common in tiger research due to their accuracy.<ref name=Sharma />

Capture-recapture models are now commonly used in conjunction with tiger tracking.<ref name=Sharma /> They not only measure population numbers, but also measure demographic parameters<ref name=Sharma /> This combination technique consists of camera traps and basic tiger search to collect sufficient data.<ref name=Sharma /> Once researchers and conservation biologists are able to gain knowledge of the population and its numbers, conservation efforts are put to work. Selection of initial focus areas are determined by level of potential success once efforts are put into place. Factors determining success generally include size of protected area, biodiversity in the environment, number of tigers in the area, connectivity of the area to buffer zones, funding, and public and local community support.  These factors are just a few of the aspects of conservation that are weighed, but public and community support has proven to be one of the major factors that can determine the success or failure of a conservation project.

== Rewilding and reintroduction projects ==
[[File:Tigerwoods chasing blesbucks.jpg|thumb|right|A rewilded South China tiger hunting [[Biology:Blesbok|blesbok]] in South Africa]]
In 1978, the Indian conservationist Billy Arjan Singh attempted to [[Biology:Rewilding (conservation biology)|rewild]] a captive-bred tigress in Dudhwa National Park.<ref>{{cite book |author=Singh, A. |year=1981 |title=Tara, a tigress |location=London and New York |publisher=Quartet Books |isbn=978-0-7043-2282-0}}</ref> Soon after the release, numerous people were killed and eaten by a tigress that was subsequently shot. Government officials claimed it was Tara, though Singh disputed this. Further controversy broke out with the discovery that Tara was partly Siberian tiger.<ref>{{cite news |author=Menon, S. |work=India Today |date=1997 |url=http://www.india-today.com/itoday/17111997/wild.html |title=Tainted Royalty |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630013849/http://www.india-today.com/itoday/17111997/wild.html |archive-date=30 June 2008}}</ref><ref>Bagla, P. (19 November 1998). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110204152542/http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19981119/32350524.html Indian tiger isn't 100 per cent "swadeshi"]. The Indian Express.</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 =Shankaranarayanan |first1=P. |last2=Singh |first2=L. |year=1998 |title=Mitochondrial DNA sequence divergence among big cats and their hybrids |url=http://www.iisc.ernet.in/~currsci/nov10/articles18.htm |journal=Current Science |volume=75 |issue=9 |pages=919–923}}</ref><ref>Singh, R.K. (2000). ''Tara: The Cocktail Tigress''. Print World, Allahabad.</ref> Tigers were reintroduced to Sariska Tiger Reserve in 2008 and to Panna Tiger Reserve in 2009.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sankar |first1=K. |last2=Qureshi |first2=Q. |last3=Nigam |first3=P. |last4=Malik |first4=P. K. |last5=Sinha |first5=P. R. |last6=Mehrotra |first6=R. N. |last7=Gopal |first7=R., Bhattacharjee, S., Mondal, K. and Gupta, S. |year=2010 |title=Monitoring of reintroduced tigers in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Western India: preliminary findings on home range, prey selection and food habits |journal=Tropical Conservation Science |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=301–318 |doi=10.1177/194008291000300305|doi-access= }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kolipaka |first1=S. S. |last2=Tamis |first2=W. L. M. |last3=van‘t Zelfde |first3=M. |last4=Persoon |first4=G. A. |last5=de Iongh |first5=H. H. |year=2017 |title=Wild versus domestic prey in the diet of reintroduced tigers (''Panthera tigris'') in the livestock-dominated multiple-use forests of Panna Tiger Reserve, India |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=e0174844 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0174844|pmid=28379997 |pmc=5381891 |bibcode=2017PLoSO..1274844K |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The organisation [[Organization:Save China's Tigers|Save China's Tigers]] has attempted to rewild the [[Biology:South China tiger|South China tiger]]s, with a breeding and training programme in a {{wipe|South Africa}}n reserve known as Laohu Valley Reserve (LVR) and eventually reintroduce them to the wild of China.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/203605/Tiger-cubs-saved-by-Catwoman | title=Tiger cubs saved by catwoman | publisher=Express.co.uk | date=5 October 2010 | accessdate=12 December 2010 |author=Warren, J.}}</ref>

A future rewilding project was proposed for Siberian tigers set to be reintroduced to northern Russia's Pleistocene park. The Siberian tigers sent to [[Religion:Iran|Iran]] for a captive breeding project in Tehran are set to be rewilded and reintroduced to the Miankaleh peninsula, to replace the now extinct [[Biology:Caspian tiger|Caspian tiger]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Big Cat Swap Raises Questions |url=https://iwpr.net/global-voices/big-cat-swap-raises-questions|publisher=Institute for War and Peace Reporting|date=19 May 2010|accessdate=30 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Russia Sends Siberian Tigers to Iran to Save Species|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/russia-send-iran-amur-siberian-tigers-population-307524|author=Ewan Palmer|website=International Business Times|date=1 March 2012|accessdate=23 January 2016}}</ref>

==See also==
*Tiger hunting
*Tiger poaching in India
*International Tiger Day

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}


[[Category:Wildlife conservation]]

{{Sourceattribution|Tiger conservation}}