Today is International Tiger Day and the internet is awash with messages, images and stories both celebrating the tiger and all it represents and lamenting the threats to the survival of the species in the wild
A look at what progress has been made since the 2010 International Tiger Forum in St Petersburg set out to double the wild tiger population by 2022, the next Year of the Tiger
The 3rd Stocktaking Conference on Tiger Conservation starts today in New Delhi, India – essentially a health check on implementation of the 2010 global commitment to double the wild tiger population from an estimated 3,200 by the next Chinese Year of the Tiger in 2022.
With as few as 3,200 wild tigers remaining, every single one counts. Based on known incidents of poaching, trafficking and illegal sales, at least 1,500 tigers have ended up in trade since 2000. That might not grab the same headlines as the tragedy unfolding for Africa’s elephants and rhinos but it is no less a crisis
Trade continues, some of the same people are involved and some new ones have popped up. The trade has not been “effectively deterred”, it’s just gone underground.
Hard-fought battles that commenced years ago have come to a constructive and logical conclusion in the interests of sharks, manta rays and rosewoods. For Asian big cats, there was a good decision that will review of efforts to combat illegal trade and to end trade in parts and products of captive-bred tigers