Animals that are often symbolic, sometimes endearing, and that, if we do not act quickly, could disappear from our planet. Climate change, poaching, overfishing: the threats facing them are numerous. The WWF regularly releases its list of the most endangered species.
The Tiger (Panthera tigris), emblematic of the most endangered species
Of the eight tiger subspecies, only five remain in existence: the Bengal tiger (about 2,500 individuals), found primarily in India but also in Bangladesh and Nepal; the Amur or Siberian tiger (about 450 individuals); the Sumatran tiger (approximately 400 individuals); the Indochinese tiger (about 200 individuals); and the Malayan tiger (about 250 individuals). And for the other four subspecies named, only a few hundred tigers survive in the wild…
The threats facing these populations are numerous, directly linked to human activities:
- deforestation of Asia’s pristine forests, responsible for the loss of their natural habitats
- poaching and illegal trade of certain tiger body parts highly prized (the skin but also bones, tails, or teeth used in traditional Asian medicine)
- rising sea levels due to climate change, threatening mangroves, the habitat of a key tiger population in the Sundarbans, in Bangladesh and India.
Read the next page: the polar bear
