Everyone knows about the great striped cat that walks the Asian forests, but most people don’t know that there are less than 4,000 tigers left in Asia. In 1970 their population was up at 40,000, but over the past 48 years the population has decreased more than 90%. This is a very high percentage to begin with, and even though it has been almost 50 years it still isn’t right for any species to decrease that much. Another fact about population is currently, three of the nine subspecies (specific species) are extinct. That list includes Balinese tigers, Caspian tigers, and Javan tigers. Just think that those tigers walked the earth, breathed the air, and enjoyed life 30 years ago. The numbers are declining fast, and we never know which one is next.
The tiger’s main threats in the wild are poaching, loss of habitat, conflicts with humans, and climate change. Poaching is the illegal hunting of an animal, in this case the tiger. The cause of poaching is because tiger parts are rare and valuable and can be used for many things, which makes it worth all the more money. Another threat is habitat loss which is when humans are cutting down the forests to either use the wood or to build houses and buildings there. Conflicts with humans is another threat. If humans are spreading across the forests, there’s more of a chance for a misunderstanding. The most common forms of a conflict between a human and a tiger is whenever there is something wrong with the tiger such as the tiger being hungry, weak or sick and either attack someone’s livestock or the person. It attacks the livestock because it must be easy prey because it’s domesticated and doesn’t know the fear of wild prey. However with such an easy kill for the tiger, the owner of the livestock doesn't appreciate a tiger killing his money. So then the owner of the livestock might try to kill the tiger to avenge his lost animal.
There are many threats to the tiger and the numbers are disappearing many organizations are trying to fix this problem but this task is close to impossible. However if we all try to help and do something small then perhaps the tiger can make a comeback. There are many ways to help such as adopt a tiger (online), be aware, donating to zoos, sanctuaries (tiger) or to big organizations that are really trying to help.