Tiger Conservation
Fewer than 7,000 tigers (Panthera tigris) still
roam in remaining habitat patches from India to Sumatra
and up to the Amur region of Russia. Tigers are already
gone from Bali, Java, and the area around the Caspian
Sea. All remaining tiger populations are very small
and isolated from one another and are thus vulnerable
to inbreeding and devastation from chance events, such
as drought, poaching, and fires. In addition, only about
20 percent of remaining tiger habitat falls within protected
areas, and people over-hunt tigers’ essential
prey—deer and wild pigs—in much of the remaining
habitat that could support tigers.
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Some of the world’s preeminent tiger experts work at the National Zoo or were trained there. They and other conservationists hope to save tigers by reducing illegal hunting of tigers for their bones and other body parts (which are highly prized in traditional Chinese medicine), protecting large remaining habitat blocks, and ensuring the sound management of deer and wild-pig populations.
Panthera tigris, well hidden.
(John Seidensticker)
Tiger
As far as tigers go, Sumatran tigers are among the most
richly marked, smallest, and rarest. The National Zoo
has become a critical and productive breeding center
for this rare subspecies, which is threatened by habitat
loss and poaching. The Zoo’s breeding program
helps maintain a healthy zoo population of tigers that
could provide a hedge
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against extinction, because only about 300 Sumatran tigers remain in the wild. Also, the Zoo provides one of the few places where people can watch and learn about these imperiled cats. In the field, Zoo scientists have worked to secure a future for wild Sumatran tigers for 25 years. They are redoubling their efforts as this endangered great cat continues to slide toward extinction.
ZooGoer 32(2) 2003.
Copyright 2003 Friends of the National Zoo.
All rights reserved.
