Year of the Tiger

Tigers at the Summit

On the Chinese zodiac, every 12^th year honors a different animal, and this year it’s the tiger. So it’s only fitting that delegates from the world’s 13 remaining “tiger nations” and leading conservation experts are joining forces this week in St. Petersburg to decide the fate of this vanishing species.

The International Tiger Summit, the highest profile meeting of its kind to discuss a single species, opened yesterday for four days of workshops and meetings on tiger conservation. By the summit’s close, participants are hoping to solidify a plan and secure funding to double the world’s tiger population by 2022—the next Year of the Tiger.

But the cards may be stacked against them. Since 1900, the world’s tiger population has plummeted from an estimated 100,000 individuals in some 25 countries. Today, there may be as few as 3,200 tigers remaining in about a dozen countries. In many of these remaining tiger nations, there are fewer than 100 tigers living in isolated habitats that support little prey and severely limit the kind of genetic exchange needed to keep the population healthy.

Since 1900, the world’s tiger population has plummeted from an estimated 100,000 individuals in some 25 countries. Today, there may be as few as 3,200 tigers remaining in about a dozen countries.

India has the largest remaining population of tigers numbering more than 1,200. Indonesia may have as many as 700, while Bangladesh, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Malaysia all have a few hundred tigers each. Since the 1940s, at least four subspecies are believed to have gone extinct, including the Balinese, Caspian, Javanese and South Chinese tigers.

Stopping illegal tiger trade

Finding ways to protect tigers and set aside more habitat will be a top priority at the summit. Chief among the threats to tigers is the illicit trade in hides, body parts and their derivatives. Bones, claws, tails and eyeballs are just a few of the highly sought-after tiger pieces that are still commonly used in traditional healing throughout many Asian cultures. According to the Smithsonian Zoogoer, a tiger can be worth as much as $3,000 on the black market to a willing poacher.

A wild Bengal tiger in Rajathstan, India. Photo courtesy of Bjorn Christian Torrissen.

Tiger advocates are using star power to generate support for the effort, drawing endorsements from actor Leonardo DiCaprio and model Naomi Campbell, and foreign leaders are getting involved as well. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has made tiger conservation one of his signature issues and will address the summit tomorrow along with World Bank President Robert Zoellick. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and other dignitaries are expected to attend and be on hand Wednesday for the adoption of formal implementation recommendations.

Stay tuned to see what progress the summit makes and what’s in store for the future of this imperiled big cat.