Tigers are in serious danger. 10 years ago, we reduced their numbers to an all-time low. The good news is that the fight for their future is working: for the first time, we are seeing wild tiger numbers rise. This is a big win, but there’s still a long way to go. So join the movement!
As the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese lunar calendar came to an end in 2010, the world united for one of the most ambitious conservation goals in history. The International Tiger Forum, held in St. Petersburg, Russia in November 2010 marked the first time an international summit was convened to focus on a single, non-human species. The Forum produced the Global Tiger Recovery Programme (GTRP), a collaboration between the 13 countries that still have wild tigers. It has set a goal of doubling wild tigers by the next Year of the Tiger in 2022.
As of 2010, wild tiger numbers were down to only 3,200, with scattered populations across 13 countries having lost more than 93 percent of their historic range. Just 100 years ago, an estimated 100,000 tigers roamed across Asia. Poaching, human-wildlife conflict and deforestation nearly forced wild tigers into extinction. Of the eight subspecies of tigers, three are extinct, or close to it.
As their forest homes are being destroyed, it is harder and harder for a tiger to find a mate, or food for their cubs. What’s more, they are hunted by humans and sold into the illegal wildlife trade. By 2010, this had forced wild tigers into extinction in Cambodia and Vietnam and perilously low in many other countries.
Where do we see tigers?
The Earth has experienced five mass extinctions, epochs in which the extinction rates are far above average. We are living in and causing the sixth great mass extinction, also known as the Anthropocene, a result of human activity—in particular, the overexploitation of animals, destruction of habitats and climate change.
In a chapter titled Consuming Tigers, from the book Eating Chilli Crab in the Anthropocene, Ng Xin writes: “In Singapore there are two local brands that rely heavily on the cultural symbolism of the tiger: Tiger Beer and Tiger Balm. My investigation of their origins and recent advertising campaigns reveals that in basing their transnational campaigns on the symbolic meanings of the tiger, these brands both reproduce existing Southeast Asian beliefs and impose foreign concepts onto the tiger. What does it mean when animals disappear, and become mere symbols?” (We highly recommend reading the full chapter, if you can. It helps understand the history/impact of colonialism and human development on non-human lives, which is necessary to acknowledge as we continue conversation efforts.)
So often corporations concoct natural imagery in their products to try to restore nature in a torn landscape. The line between the real and the fake are blurred. The reality is this: today, the tiger’s range has been reduced by 93 per cent worldwide, and wild populations exist only in small, isolated and fragmented landscapes scattered
across 12 countries. The only tigers that most of us see today are at a safe distance, or as images in advertising campaigns—so different from indigenous Southeast Asians of the past.
Changing its stripes?
But we have some good news to report! The past decade has seen successful conservation action in several countries across Asia: a doubling of numbers in Bhutan’s Royal Manas National Park and an incredible threefold increase in Russia’s Land of the Leopard national park to name just two examples.
WWF is raising awareness and funding to address the unrelenting decline in tiger populations across Southeast Asia. At the start of the 20th century, 100,000 wild tigers roamed the Earth; today, only around 3,900 wild tigers remain and Southeast Asia is where the big cats face the most urgent crisis. Tigers have disappeared from the wild in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam within the last 25 years, and at current rates, the Malayan tiger could become extinct within our lifetime. The tigers’ range has reduced by approximately 95%, leaving populations fragmented and isolated. WWF is supporting on-ground work in tiger landscapes that are home to around 80% of the world’ remaining wild tigers.
As we enter a new Year of the Tiger, there is a pressing need to continue tiger recovery efforts. The upcoming Global Tiger Summit in September will see heads of state and other decision makers have an opportunity to take action. We need a regenerative conservation effort that’s both tiger-friendly and people-centred.
Malaysia: indigenous knowledge and relations
Snares are indiscriminate killers. Small, cheap and easy to make, these deadly and cruel traps are devastating populations of tigers and their prey across Southeast Asia.
Sitting silently on the forest floor, they snag unsuspecting animals as they pass by, leading to brutal injuries and often death. In Malaysia, snares are a key reason tiger numbers have plummeted to fewer than 200. One landscape, Belum Temengor, lost over half of its tigers in a two year period from 2016-2018. The main culprit? Snares.
With Malaysia’s tigers in crisis, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) sprung into drastic action and teamed up with people who know the forest best: the Orang asli indigenous people who have called this forest home for generations. Today, 15 teams of community members relentlessly scan the forest floor in search of snares. Each one they locate and deactivate is potentially a life saved. The community patrols’ tireless efforts are renewing hope (support them here). There are now 90% fewer snares in Belum Temengor.
Singapore: WWF-Singapore’s AR-Mazing Tiger Trail (26th Feb – 9th April 2022)
Embark on a mini adventure and hit the Tiger Trail. The 3-part island-wide trail zooms in on tiger conservation and other key environmental causes facing the planet today in a bid to use art as a vehicle to educate and spark discussion and action. 33 life-sized tiger sculptures will be exhibited across Singapore, with the iconic decorated cats popping up at the likes of Gardens by the Bay, Jewel Changi, National Gallery, Kampong Glam, The Fullerton Heritage and Sentosa. The sculptures are designed by a collective of internationally acclaimed artists from Singapore and beyond; each presenting a unique perspective on how climate change, poaching and deforestation is affecting tigers in the wild.
The highly-visual, gamified trail encourages visitors to further engage with the sculptures and deepen their understanding of the issues facing tiger conservation through a series of quizzes and Instagram AR filters, which can be unlocked at each sculpture on the trail. A series of workshops will offer the opportunity to upskill in terrarium making, coffee grounds upcycling, orange peel upcycling and more.
Amongst the locally-based artists involved in WWF-Singapore’s AR-mazing Tiger Trail is Yip Yew Chong, a Singaporean visual artist who is best known for his street murals, which depict local life in a whimsical and nostalgic way. His Half-Submerged Tiger can be interpreted in many ways, and serves as a reminder of the impacts of continued deforestation on the tiger and the resulting floods and rising sea levels. From another perspective, the tiger might be seen as enjoying the waters of the Singaporean River.
Help save the tigers
Here are five #LittleGreenSteps you can take, wherever you are in the world:
1. Speak up and spread the word: Support awareness campaigns (like Singapore’s tiger trail) and boost the message that tigers and their habitats are under threat.
2. No more widlife trade: Live more consciously. Stop buying tiger parts and items prepared from tiger derivatives. If you know of any information on poaching or trade of illegal wildlife, inform the local law enforcement agencies.
3. Reduce pressure on natural resources by reducing the use of products derived from forests, such as timber and paper.
4. Voice your concerns with the policy makers: Write letters to the decision makers – the Prime Minister, the Minister for Environment and Forests or even your local MP.
5. Donate to WWF’s tiger projects to cover costs of: tiger habitat restoration (reorganising vegetation to provide enough food resources); supporting households for community coexistence work; removing snares from habitats, and more.