As the El Paso Zoo makes plans to celebrate Earth Day during Party for the Planet on April 12, one big question we can ask concerns the future of tigers.

Will the forces of human civilization that impact so much of the natural world, succeed in saving tigers in the wild?

Look at this satellite image of the world. Can you see where tigers live in the wild? The map looks very green, but in reality the picture below shows what tigers are up against.

Up until 1940 there were nine living species of tiger.  Today there are six.   The Bali tiger, the Caspian tiger and the Javan tiger have all gone extinct.   The six surviving species are all endangered.  Tigers play a vital role in the environment and should be saved to maintain healthy ecosystems. Tiger habitats overlap with watersheds that provide water to more than 800 million people. Tigers help protect forests from deforestation, which stores carbon and helps mitigate climate change. 

The map below shows where tigers live in Asia today. Unfortunately the picture does not show all the broken wildlife corridors that prevent tigers from safely traveling across their range in search of food and mates.

The El Paso Zoo is a member of the Malayan tiger Species Survival Plan, and to support its conservation efforts we recently sent our male tiger Olan to the Palm Beach Zoo in Florida so that he can reproduce and increase the numbers and genetic fitness of this species in conservation care, and serve to aid the last-remaining breeding populations of Malayan tigers. 

NASA satellites are helping track tiger habitat, offering hope and new insights for conservation as these predators face the consequences of rapid habitat loss.

Seventy years ago, an estimated 3,000 Malayan tigers roamed  Malaysia. Today it is estimated that 150 or fewer remain.   It’s easy to lose hope in the face of such steep declines, but  tiger populations can recover from seemingly insurmountable odds if the right protections are in place. You can help the Zoo save tigers and other endangered species by rounding up your purchases at the gift shop and food outlets in the Zoo.

Status in the Wild of the 6 living tiger species

Amur / Siberian Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica)
Endangered – 580 in the wild mainly in Russia.

Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris)
Endangered – 2633 in the wild mainly in India.

Indochinese Tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti)
Endangered – 189 in the wild in Southeast Asia.

South China Tiger  (Panthera tigris amoyensis)
Critically Endangered – 178 in Zoos only – extinct in the wild

Malayan Tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni)
Critically Endangered – the species living at the El Paso Zoo, less than 100 in the wild

Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae)
Critically Endangered – 400 in the wild on the island of Sumatra.
 

Photos of Malayan tiger by Rick LoBello
Cover – CIFOR-ICRAF, Wikimedia Creative Commons