World has only 3,200 tigers left: WWF report
In a sharp contrast to the 100,000 tigers that once lived in the wild a century ago, the number now has reduced to just 3,200. This was revealed by a latest report released by the World Wide Fund (WWF).
WWF has also expressed their willingness to assist the conservation efforts being made by the 13 tiger-range countries – India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam – which in 2010 set the target of doubling of wild tiger population by 2022.
The report which coincided with the International Tiger Day on July 29 warns that the largest of all the Asian big cats could go extinct in the wild mainly due to poaching and habitat destruction.
WWF considers ‘poaching’ as the biggest threat to wild tigers since their parts are used for traditional medicine, folk remedies, and increasingly as a status symbol among some Asian cultures.
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Month: Current Affairs - July, 2014
Category: International / World Current Affairs