WWF UK has created an interactive map that outlines the top 10 tiger trouble spots, providing a unique overview of threats faced by tigers across the globe. This map is of particular importance this year as the WWF launch their Year of the Tiger campaign on Sunday 14th February 2010, which also happens to be Valentines Day. The aim is simple, to help ensure the protection of the species whilst working towards the goal of doubling wild tiger numbers by 2022 – the next Year of the Tiger. Click on the link below to view the map –
Head of Species at WWF-UK, Diane Walkington, said –
Since the last year of the tiger in 1998, tigers have lost 40 per cent of their habitat. They now occupy only 7 per cent of their historic range. Already, three tiger sub-species have gone extinct since the 1940s and a fourth one, the South China tiger, has not been seen in the wild in 25 years. WWF is committed to ensuring the remaining populations receive the protection they so desperately need.
Tigers are being persecuted across the globe. They are being poisoned, trapped, snared, shot and squeezed out of their homes. But there is now real hope that this trend can be reversed. With 13 countries where wild tigers survive now pledging that they will work towards doubling wild tiger numbers by 2022, there has never been such an ambitious, high-level of commitment from governments to work to save this iconic species.
The global number of Tigers is believed to be around 3,200 at present. At the start of the 20th century, there were believed to be more than 100,000. This rapid decline will continue to gain pace if many of the areas on the map are left to drop beyond the point of no return by 2022. By highlighting these areas, the WWF map shows exactly where the increasing threats facing the World’s tigers are at their greatest, and hope that world leaders will join their fight in doubling numbers by the next Year of the Tiger.
