Tigers, recognized by their distinctive striped coats, are one of Earth’s most iconic big cats. Despite their formidable nature, these predators face a serious threat to their existence. The global wild tiger population, once around 100,000 a century ago, has experienced a precipitous decline. While recent estimates indicate a rise to approximately 5,574 wild tigers, they remain classified as endangered on the IUCN Red List. These pressures jeopardize their survival across their fragmented historical range, which has shrunk by over 93%.
Loss of Habitat
The disappearance and fragmentation of natural tiger habitats significantly contribute to their endangered status. Extensive deforestation, driven by agricultural expansion, logging, and infrastructure development like roads and dams, consistently reduces land available for tigers. For example, converting forests to plantations, particularly oil palm, accounts for substantial deforestation in areas like Peninsular Malaysia, diminishing suitable tiger environments. These activities destroy existing habitats and create isolated pockets of forest, making it difficult for tiger populations to connect, breed, and find sufficient resources.
Infrastructure projects, including new roads and railways, further exacerbate habitat fragmentation. A 2020 study revealed that approximately 57% of available tiger habitat and 43% of breeding grounds fall within 5 km of a road, increasing disturbance and limiting movement. This encroachment facilitates access for human activities harmful to tigers, creating a landscape where these predators struggle to establish territories and thrive. As human populations expand, particularly in Asia where tiger ranges overlap with densely populated areas, pressure on remaining wild spaces intensifies.
Illegal Hunting and Trade
Poaching poses a direct threat to tiger populations, fueled by the illegal trade in their body parts. Tigers are hunted for their bones, skins, claws, and teeth, highly sought after in illegal wildlife markets for traditional medicine, status symbols, or decorative purposes. This illicit trade is a lucrative business, estimated to be worth billions annually, often orchestrated by organized crime syndicates operating across international borders.
These criminal networks exploit captive tiger facilities, particularly in Southeast Asia, which can inadvertently fuel demand for wild tiger products by creating a perceived legal supply. Despite a global ban on commercial trade in live tigers and their parts since 1975 under CITES, demand persists, posing a significant threat to wild tigers. Investigations have uncovered networks supplying a wide range of tiger products, from canines and claws to skins and bones, demonstrating the extensive reach of this illicit market.
Human-Tiger Conflict
The expanding human footprint increasingly brings people into direct conflict with tigers. As human populations grow and encroach upon tiger territories, encounters become more frequent, often leading to negative outcomes for both species. Tigers may prey on livestock, especially when natural prey becomes scarce, resulting in economic losses for local communities. This can provoke retaliatory killings by villagers, who may poison, shoot, or snare tigers out of anger or fear.
Instances of tigers attacking humans also occur, intensifying fear and leading to eradication efforts. Such conflicts contribute to tiger mortality and foster negative attitudes towards their conservation among local people. The proximity of human settlements to tiger habitats, particularly along the edges of protected areas, increases the likelihood of these dangerous interactions.
Decline in Prey Species
The scarcity of natural prey animals directly affects tiger survival and health. Tigers primarily hunt large ungulates like deer and wild boar, and a healthy prey base is important to sustain their populations. Human activities contribute to the decline of these prey species through overhunting for bushmeat or sport, and habitat degradation that impacts prey populations. This reduction in available food forces tigers to either starve or venture closer to human settlements in search of alternative food sources, including livestock.
When preferred prey is not available, tigers may shift to smaller prey, which may not meet their energy needs, particularly for adult tigers. A diminished prey base can lead to reduced reproductive success among tigers. The link between prey abundance and tiger density is clear; areas with higher densities of ungulates tend to support more tigers. The depletion of prey species not only affects the individual tiger’s ability to find food but also impacts the overall carrying capacity of an ecosystem for tiger populations.