Tiger Population Lower Than Believed (India)

[jpak]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-asia/2007/may/23/052307391.html

NEW DELHI (AP) - India's population of wild tigers, which wildlife experts have long warned is on the decline, is dramatically lower than previously believed, according to preliminary results of an exhaustive study of tiger habitats released Wednesday.

The study, conducted over the past two years by the government-run Wildlife Institute of India, found that the tiger population in some states may be nearly 65 percent less than experts had thought.

Full results of the study are not expected until late this year, but conservationists said the early results indicated the most recent tiger census - which found about 3,500 tigers - was far too optimistic.

"The results are depressing," said Belinda Wright, director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India and one of the foremost big cat conservationists in the country. "But it's a major step forward that a government study has finally come to terms with this disastrous decrease in tiger numbers."

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[JohnF]

1. All the big cats are in trouble

I believe all the big cats in Africa and India are in danger of extinction. African lions are down 90% since the 1980s, as I recall. (Mountain lions in the US are doing okay, I think.)

All the great apes are in serious danger of extinction too -- except of course humans. All of them. (gorillas, chimps, orangutans, bonobos)

[JohnF]

2. For info go to the Species Alliance

Here's the link:

http://www.speciesalliance.org/