Alert: 3,890 wild tigers left on earth
‘Large-scale infrastructure development in Asia is threatening the habitat of wild tigers,’ warns WWF
By Lee Han-soo
Wild tigers, the majestic animals that once roamed the earth in their tens of thousands, are close to extinction.
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the number of tigers has decreased to 3,890 worldwide.
Although this is a slight increase from 3,200 in 2010, the tiger population has fallen 97 per cent from a century ago.
Even in India, which has the largest wild tiger population (2,226), 76 wild tigers were poached in 2016.
“Large-scale infrastructure development in Asia is threatening the habitat of wild tigers,” WWF says on its website. “This is hurting efforts for tiger re-population.”
WWF warns that without any development plan that assures coexistence of tigers and humans, 500 more tigers will probably disappear in South-East Asia within 10 years.
However, all is not yet lost.
In 2010, 13 nations where tigers live, including Russia and China, have a plan called “Tx2.”
Its ultimate goal is to double the wild tiger population by 2022.
“Tigers will never get this chance again, and neither will mankind,” says the WWF.
