Last week the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released an updated list of red-listed species, and the list comes with good news regarding the wild tiger population, writes ecowatch.com. The new survey shows an estimated population of between 3,726 and 5,579 tigers, which is 40 percent more than what was reported in 2015.
"Although we still have a long way to go, the new survey shows that the tiger can be saved. There are more tigers today than there were in 2010, which is the result of states and partners working focused on protecting the species and its habitat", writes Dale Miquelle, tiger coordinator at IUCN, to ecowatch.com.
However, a large part of the apparently increased population has to do with the fact that the measurement has been more meticulous than before, as it included East, Southeast and South Asia. The tiger is still considered endangered, but the IUCN claims that the tiger population is at worst stable, at best increasing – and the indications point to the latter being true.
The indications that the number of tigers is increasing is also confirmed by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which earlier this year released a report that we have broken a century-old trend of a declining population – and instead see an increasing population of tigers. As the work continues, a further increase is expected.
