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Panthera tigris
– Endangered
Taxonomy
Assessment Information
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Red List Category & Criteria:
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EN C2a(i) ver 3.1 (2001)
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Year Assessed:
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2002
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Assessor/s:
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Cat Specialist Group
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Evaluator/s:
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Nowell, K., Breitenmoser, U., Breitenmoser, C. & Jackson, P. (Cat Red List Authority)
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Justification:
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Based on estimates of density and geographic range (Nowell and Jackson 1996, Seidensticker et al. 1999), the tiger’s total effective population size is estimated at below 2,500 mature breeding individuals, with a declining trend due to habitat and prey base loss and persecution, and no subpopulation containing more than 250 mature breeding individuals.
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History:
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| 1986 | - | Endangered (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1986) |
| 1988 | - | Endangered (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1988) |
| 1990 | - | Endangered (IUCN 1990) |
| 1994 | - | Endangered (Groombridge 1994) |
| 1996 | - | Endangered (Baillie and Groombridge 1996) |
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Geographic Range
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Range Description:
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The geographic distribution of the tiger once extended across Asia from eastern Turkey to the Sea of Okhotsk. However, its range has been greatly reduced in recent times. Currently tigers survive only in scattered populations from Bangladesh west to Myanmar, and in Sumatra, China, and the Russian Far East.
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Countries:
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Native:
Bangladesh; Bhutan; Cambodia; China; India; Indonesia; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Malaysia; Myanmar; Nepal; Russian Federation; Thailand; Viet Nam
Regionally extinct:
Afghanistan; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Pakistan; Singapore; Tajikistan; Turkmenistan; Uzbekistan
Possibly extinct regionally:
Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Turkey
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Population
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Population:
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The largest national population is found in India (Nowell and Jackson 1996, Seidensticker et al. 1999).
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Population Trend:
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Habitat and Ecology
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Habitat and Ecology:
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The tiger is found in a variety of habitats: from the tropical evergreen and deciduous forests of southern Asia to the coniferous, scrub oak, and birch woodlands of Siberia. It also thrives in the mangrove swamps of the Sunderbans, the dry thorn forests of north-western India, and the tall grass jungles at the foot of Himalayas (Nowell and Jackson 1996). Tigers are found in the Himalayan valleys, and tracks have been recorded in winter snow at 3,000 m (Prater 1971). The extinct Caspian tiger frequented seasonally flooded riverine land known as tugai, consisting of trees, shrubs, and dense stands of tall reeds and grass up to six metres in height. The tiger’s habitat requirements can be summarized as: some form of dense vegetative cover, sufficient large ungulate prey (Sunquist and Sunquist 1989), and access to water.
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System:
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Terrestrial; Freshwater; Marine
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Threats
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Threats:
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Commercial poaching, a declining prey base due to over-hunting, and loss of habitat are the principal threats to the tiger (Nowell and Jackson 1996). Maintenance of present habitat is crucial to the tiger’s future, along with protection from illegal killing.
Tigers are shot or poisoned for livestock predation and for gain. Large numbers of tigers were killed in the 20th century in Russia and China when they were officially considered pests, and bounties were paid for their destruction. In terms of commerce, tigers have traditionally been hunted primarily for their skins, and also for bone and other body parts which are used in traditional Chinese and Korean medicines (Nowell and Jackson 1996, Nowell 2000).
Hunting of tigers for sport has also played a role in their historical decline. Tiger hunting was prevalent throughout the range from early times. It became very fashionable when firearms were introduced to the Indian sub-continent, where it was pursued enthusiastically by British officials and Indian upper classes (Nowell and Jackson 1996). While historical records from India suggest that tiger populations withstood heavy offtakes for long periods of time (M.K. Ranjitsinh pers. comm.), tiger populations became more vulnerable as habitat decreased, particularly after World War II. Sport hunters from Europe and the Americas flew into India and Nepal to obtain trophies with little official control.
Subsistence hunting of ungulate prey by local people is now a powerful force driving the tiger’s decline over large parts of its range (Nowell and Jackson 1996)
Severe habitat loss has occurred throughout the twentieth century with the growth and spread of human populations, settlement and activities. Not only have large blocks of tiger habitat been converted to human use, but wilderness has been fragmented, creating many isolated tiger populations, some so small that genetic deterioration is to be feared (Smith and McDougal 1991).
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Conservation Actions
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Conservation Actions:
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Included on CITES Appendix I. The species is protected at the national level throughout most of its range (Nowell and Jackson 1996). Hunting is prohibited in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Viet Nam.
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