Tigers are one of the most iconic faces of wildlife conservation worldwide. These species are still endangered, but indeed on the rise — although it wasn’t long ago that tiger populations teetered on the edge of extinction.
Due to a long history of hunting and habitat loss, tigers across Central and Southeast Asia had once fallen to only 5% of their original numbers. The long journey to restore dwindling tiger populations began in 1973 with the rollout of India’s Project Tiger, with the aim to establish tiger reserves across the country. In the decades to follow, many other nations followed in India’s footsteps by joining the Global Tiger Recovery Program in 2010. Just 13 years later, the WWF celebrated more that 5,500 wild tigers — an increase of 73% since the launch of the Program.
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