Poaching has rocketed recently. There’s been a big increase in the number of tigers killed in the past year. Several top tiger reserves in India now have no tigers at all, or are down to single-figure populations. WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? Tiger skins are in demand as luxury items in some countries, and tiger parts coveted for their ‘medicinal’ properties. The tigers’ forest habitat is vanishing too. Destruction of forests for timber, agriculture and road building has forced tigers into ever-smaller areas, where they’re even more vulnerable to poachers. Poachers also hunt the tiger’s prey species, and tigers are forced to target domestic animals, bringing them into fatal conflict with local people. Climate change is a particular threat for tigers too – around 70% of the Bengal tiger’s remaining habitat in the Sunderbans mangrove forest may be lost due to rising sea levels within 50 years. YOU CAN HELP SAVE THE WILD TIGER WWF is committed to doubling the wild tiger population to 6,000 by 2020, through conservation projects across Asia. Our Tiger Network Initiative will be launched in 2010, the Chinese Year of the Tiger. YOUR DONATION WILL HELP US: • end poaching – increase forest patrols and prevent illegal trade in tiger parts • raise local awareness of the value of tigers and develop eco-tourism • work with politicians to strengthen laws against poaching and wildlife trading • encourage government and industry to manage forests more carefully • resolve conflict with communities by ensuring farmers are paid compensation for livestock killed • relocating tigers that stray into inhabited areas, protecting people and ensuring better distribution of tigers. HOW YOUR MONEY COULD BE USED Your support is essential to help us save this magnificent animal – as it is with all our vital work. £10 could put an anti-poaching patrol in the field for one day. £20 could buy two walkie-talkies for community patrols in Nepal. £30 could provide a bike to allow a ranger to patrol tiger reserves in India. £50 could pay for two days of training for an anti-poaching sniffer dog. £100 could pay for the training of one field officer in anti-poaching techniques and tiger monitoring in Nepal. With as few as 3,200 tigers left in the wild, your support is needed desperately.