Tiger/human conflict

The Decline of the Tiger Population

In years gone by tigers were hunted for sport. They were considered to pose the greatest challenge to the hunter and thousands were killed to be displayed as hunting trophies. Some countries declared the tiger a pest and in India, at least 57,000 tigers were killed for bounties between 1875 and 1925. This figure represents ten times the present world tiger population.

Hunting tigers for sport is now a thing of the past, but tigers are still killed illegally throughout their range. They are killed for sale of their body parts for use in traditional Chinese medicine, in retaliation for losses of domestic livestock, because of perceived competition with local people for the local deer and pig, or because they are disturbing a village or have killed somebody. They may also die accidentally in snares set for other animals, or even be hit by cars. Their habitat is also disappearing every day forcing them into more populated areas.