The death of the tigress found under the car is tempered by the knowledge that the Amur is part of a global wild tiger population that has started to rise, albeit marginally, after decades of decline. The world lost 97% of its tiger population in a little over a century, but last year, WWF reported that global numbers in the wild had risen from 3,200 in 2010 to about 3,900 in 2016, thanks to the introduction of anti-poaching patrols, habitat protection and other measures.
The increase in tiger numbers is encouraging but the species future in its natural environment still hangs in the balance and numbers remain perilously low, said Rebecca May, WWFs tiger specialist. There now needs to be an enormous push forward to build on this progress. We need commitment and urgent action from all governments of tiger-range countries [where tigers still roam free], as well as the passion and unwavering support of the public.
To fund the campaign, WWF will launch an appeal this week for the public to become tiger protectors by donating £5 a month to its programme. Some of this money will be used to expand reserves in the wild where tigers can mix and breed in greater numbers, reversing a trend that has seen the tigers range in Asia shrink by nearly 95% over the past 150 years.
This attrition of habitat has continued unabated into recent times. Between 2006 and 2014, the tigers already dwindling range shrank a further 40%. By contrast, human populations have soared in tiger-range countries which include India, Russia, Nepal and nine other Asian nations that now have a human population of 3.2 billion, double the number in 1977.
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The fortunes of the Amur tiger have been more encouraging than most. Its population had dropped to only 20 to 30 animals in the 1930s and the species was on the brink of extinction. Today, there may be more than 500 Amurs in the wilds of Siberia thanks to the work of conservationists such as Fomenko, backed by governments that value good conservation.
It remains to be seen if this reversal can be maintained, although Fomenko is under no illusions about the value of such work: Tigers are powerful, they are beautiful, they are perfect and they can co-exist with humans.
