Tiger Populations Can Rebound if Protected

According to a new series of scientific studies, it would appear that even the small number of tigers that still exist today can provide a fresh start for future populations.

The only conditions that need to be met is that the big cats are given enough protection, as well as dedicated conservation measures, experts say.

In other words, they need time, bigger habitats, as well as increased protection from poachers. As the animals become increasingly rare, their value on the black market increases substantially.

As such, poachers have more incentives to go out and hunt tigers, regardless of the fact that the animals live in national parks, where hunting is completely forbidden.

And the fact that the larges tiger reserves are located next to some extremely poor regions also doesn't help. Villagers kill the animals either for money, or as retaliation after the big cats kill sheep, goats and other animals near the households.

It should be the job of authorities to ensure that the reservations are protected, and that those living nearby are not harmed by the tiger's presence, Wired reports.

People who live next to the few dozen small areas that still house tigers today should also be educated as to the risk threatening the species.

At this point in time, the animals only occupy an estimated 6 percent of their original habitat, and only about 3,500 individuals are believed to exist.

Of these, about 1,000 are females that can breed new cubs. Given that a litter of small tigers can number as much as four or five young ones each breeding seasons, populations can conceivably bounce back to safer numbers.

But, in order for that to happen, the existing animals need increased protection. A study detailing the idea is published in the September 14 issue of the open-access scientific journal PLoS Biology.

“A lot of effort has been focused on distributing efforts across a broad range, but we need to make sure that these source sites are absolutely protected from poaching, rather than spreading resources too thin,” explain sJoe Walston.

He is the lead author of the new investigation, and also the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) director for Asia, where most of the tigers live.

“There is no reserve today that is big enough to maintain a genetically viable population of tigers,” adds Eric Dinerstein, a WCS scientist who was a part of the investigation.

“We either need whopping big preserves, which is nearly impossible, or we need to manage tigers as a metapopulation – one big population that is linked by dispersal and habitat corridors,” he concludes.