World’s wild tiger count rising for first time in a century

NEW DELHI – The world’s count of wild tigers roaming forests from Russia to Vietnam has gone up for the first time in more than a century, with about 3,890 counted by conservation groups and national governments in the latest global census, wildlife conservation groups said Monday.

The tally marks a turnaround from the last worldwide estimate in 2010, when the number of tigers in the wild hit an all-time low of about 3,200, according to the World Wildlife Fund and the Global Tiger Forum.

While experts said the news was cause for celebration, they stopped short of saying the number of tigers was actually rising. In other words, it may just be that experts are aware of more tigers, thanks to improved survey methods and more areas being included.

Still, this is the first time tiger counts are increasing since 1900, when there were more than 100,000 tigers in the wild.

“More important than the absolute numbers is the trend, and we’re seeing the trend going in the right direction,” said Ginette Hemley, senior vice president of wildlife conservation at WWF.

The global census, compiled from national tiger surveys and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, was released a day before ministers from 13 countries meet in New Delhi as they work toward doubling the tiger population from the 2010 low by 2022.

Not all nations are seeing progress. While Russia, India, Bhutan and Nepal all counted more tigers in their latest surveys, Southeast Asian countries have struggled. They are also behind the others in conservation, and do not yet conduct a tiger census on their own.

The global tiger count is based on data from 2014. Here is the tally broken down by country: Bangladesh, 106; Bhutan, 103; Cambodia, 0; China, more than 7; India, 2,226; Indonesia, 371; Laos, 2; Malaysia, 250; Myanmar, no data available; Nepal, 198; Russia, 433; Thailand, 189; Vietnam, fewer than 5.