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The WWF warned that the big cat could go extinct in the next 12 years if urgent steps were not taken to save the big cat's habitat. The WWF has called on the governments of India, China and Bangladesh to fulfill their commitment to double their respective tiger populations.
The WWF's tiger protection campaign has been launched to coincide with the Chinese year of the tiger which begins in 2010. Representatives of 13 countries which still have wild tiger populations are scheduled to meet in Bali next week, to seek a consensus on conservation efforts. A global summit on Tigers is scheduled to be held in Russia in September.
Conservation experts believe that habitat conservation will help tiger populations bounce back within 3-4 years. The tiger has been hunted for its fur and its body parts which are believed to be medicinal. A study in China had shown that their wild Tiger population had dwindled to just 50. There was a huge hue and cry when a Tiger census conducted in India found only 1400 animals living in the wild.