Born Free Foundation - Keep Wildlife in the Wild

With fewer than 3,500 wild tigers remaining globally, the IUCN¹ Red List of Threatened Species classifies the South China and the Sumatran tigers as ‘Critically Endangered’. This means they face ‘an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild’. The other remaining subspecies of tiger are listed as ‘Endangered’ and therefore face a ‘very high risk of extinction in the wild’. Three sub-species have gone extinct since the 1950s. 

¹International Union for Conservation of Nature

POPULATION DECLINE

1900 – 100,000 exist

1950 – 40,000

2007 – less than 5,000 survive; 2,500 in India, IUCN status  ‘Endangered’

2010 (Year of the Tiger) – only 3,500 remain in the wild globally (1,400 in India)

CITES² STATUS

Appendix I (international trade for commercial purposes in Appendix I listed species is prohibited)

²The United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) is an international agreement between governments which provides varying levels of protection for species that are or may be in danger of extinction from international trade.

Appendix I includes species that are threatened with extinction and that are or may be affected by international trade. Commercial international trade in species listed on Appendix I is prohibited.