In the past few decades, the wild tiger of India and South East Asia has been placed on the endangered species list after their global population was thought to have dipped under 3,000. The endangerment has come from poaching, deliberate killing for protection and loss of habitat. In the early 2000s, only a few small pockets of tigers remained in India, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Because much of Southeast Asia has gone through an economic boom in the past decade, civilization has gotten bigger. More people are being born and living longer lives, which means society is extending into forests that are full of tigers. In order to keep people and livestock safe (and sometimes for money) people have been killing the tigers indiscriminately for many years, which caused a precipitous drop in the tiger population.
However, thanks to large scale efforts by the Thai and Indian governments, new measures have been put in place to protect these cats and they are working tremendously well. Wildlife refuges have been increasing security with the goal of creating “bridges” of nature for tigers to travel through so that much of India and South East Asia will be populated with Tigers again.
In India, the wild tiger population increased by 30% between 2016 and 2018. Prime minister Modi called it “A historic achievement.” and at a press conference in Delhi told the press “we reaffirm our commitment towards protecting the tiger.” This statement has proven true as the tiger population in India has been steadily increasing.
Thailand has followed suit. Thanks to increased patrolling for poaching and conservation in the Huai Kha Kreng widlife sanctuary, the tiger population is on track to grow by 50% soon. By 2022, the government is hoping to double their population of Tigers and that is looking very probable right now, which may be the key to repopulating South East Asia.
As the Huai Kha Kheng sanctuary is on Thailand’s border with Myanmar, it is a prime location for tigers to cross over into new territory that they could then populate. This along with man made efforts to increase tiger populations are proving very successful. In Cambodia, which has a very low population, tigers are being brought in manually in the hopes that tigers will expand their habitat throughout South East Asia and not be trapped by the confines of wildlife refuges. With all these efforts, tigers are well on their way to being taken off the endangered species list.
This precedent set by the Thai and Indian governments has caught the eye of Leonardo DiCaprio who praised the Thai efforts on Twitter. His foundation is now working with the Thai and Cambodian governments to get the tiger population to a healthy number once again.
If you would like to help the tigers, please visit savetigersnow.org or to learn about other environmental threats, please visit leonardodicaprio.org
Bibliography
Limited, Bangkok Post Public Company. “India's Wild Tiger Population Jumps to Almost 3,000: Census.” Https://Www.bangkokpost.com, 2019, www.bangkokpost.com/world/1721007/indias-wild-tiger-population-jumps-to-almost-3-000-census?cx_placement=related.
Limited, Bangkok Post Public Company. “Wild Tiger Population Growing Fast.” Https://Www.bangkokpost.com, www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1956471/wild-tiger-population-growing-fast.
The Thaiger. “Leonardo DiCaprio Praises Thailand for Efforts to Increase the Population of Wild Tigers.” The Thaiger, 30 July 2019, thethaiger.com/hot-news/environment/leonardo-dicaprio-praises-thailand-for-efforts-to-increase-the-population-of-wild-tigers.
“Tiger.” WWF, World Wildlife Fund, www.worldwildlife.org/species/tiger.
