Tiger habitat declining
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
July 20, 2006
The most comprehensive scientific study of tiger habitats ever done finds that the big cats reside in 40 percent less habitat than they were thought to a decade ago. The tigers now occupy only 7 percent of their historic range.
This landmark study, commissioned by the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation’s Save The Tiger Fund and produced by some of the world’s leading tiger scientists at World Wildlife Fund, Wildlife Conservation Society, the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park and Save The Tiger Fund, calls for specific international actions to safeguard remaining populations. The study finds that conservation efforts such as protection from poaching, preservation of prey species, and preservation of tigers’ natural habitat have resulted in some populations remaining stable and even increasing. But it concludes that long-term success is only achieved where there is a broad landscape-level conservation vision with buy-in from stakeholders.
“This report documents a low-water mark for tigers, and charts a way forward to reverse the tide,” said John Robinson of the Wildlife Conservation Society. “We can save tigers forever. However, tiger conservation requires commitment from local partners, governments and international donors, along with effective, science-based conservation efforts to bring the species back to all parts of its biological range.”
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This is a modified news release from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation