WWF estimates that only 50 tigers remain living in the wild in China, prompting the Chinese government to partner with WWF and other conservation groups in a multi-million dollar plan to save the animal from extinction.

Tigers once freely roamed territories throughout China in large numbers, but as the nation prepares to enter into the year of the tiger, factors such as habitat destruction and the continued poaching of the animals for traditional medicinal purposes have caused numbers to reach an all-time low.

Xie Yan of the Wildlife Conservation Society said: “The number of wild tigers left in China is very depressing. We have less than 50 individuals in the wild.

“The populations in Tibet and in the south are still dropping. The northeast tiger (Siberian tiger) is now stable, and maybe increasing a little, but the number is still very small.”

Xie also said the Siberian tiger has the best chance of survival as the small population of tigers on the China side is well connected with a larger population just across the border in Russia.

Xie estimates that 500 Siberian tigers are still left in Russia, with a better chance of survival due to a smaller human presence than China.

The populations of other species of tigers such as the Yunnan and Tibet tigers are so small and isolated that the future of those animals looks incredibly bleak, according to Xie.

WWF recently warned that the Siberian tiger could become extinct within 30 years if current trends continue, prompting the Chinese government to call for increased protection of the wild tiger population, through habitat management, public education, and stronger law enforcement.

Many conservation groups, the World Bank and the Chinese government are putting their financial and physical efforts toward saving the Siberian tiger and have created the most ambitious conservation plan ever.

Many tracking teams regularly trek through the territories the animals are known to inhabit in order to better understand the tiger and the challenges it currently faces.

The recently revealed three-stage, multi-million dollar plan to protect the tiger will include measures such as linking tiger communities, acquiring land for reserve expansions, relocating residents, and training local authorities and forestry management in sustainable economic use and the cohabitation of predators and their prey.

China has also experimented with captive tiger breeding with the hopes of one day reintroducing the animals into their natural habitat. Previously, two South China tigers were born in captivity before being sent to a training centre South Africa where they have learned to live, mate and hunt in a ‘wild’ environment.

The project was established in 2000 and has the support of the government in Beijing as well as many local and international celebrities, but some critics say the project is expensive with no guarantee of any progression in wild tiger conservation.

Additionally, Chinese officials will be able to attend a tiger summit planned by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for September.

But threatening the recent progress that has been made in tiger conservation is the fact that tiger attacks seem to be increasing as the animal’s natural habitat continues to give way to human infrastructure. The government has been forced to increase compensation for anyone involved in a tiger attack and consider relocating citizens to a safer area so the animal can reclaim their habitats.

Additionally, China’s tiger farmers, who have bred more than, 5,000 of the animal, have called for a relaxation on the ban of trading tiger parts so they can sell bones and other parts for use in traditional Chinese medicine.

The farmer’s propositions will be put forward at the next CITIES meeting in Doha in March.

By Taylor Turner

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