3890 TIGERS REMAIN IN THE WILD

Tigers are not a single species, so the actual number of tigers must be divided among the five subspecies remaining in the wild. Assessed that way, their situation is even more precarious. Some 2,633 Bengal tigers live in Nepal, Bhutan, and India. The paltry remainder—1,257 tigers—is split among the other four subspecies: Siberian, Indochinese, Malay, and Sumatran. These tigers are almost extinct.

The greatest threat? “It’s poaching,” says Goodrich, adding that with the cats hunted out of 40 percent of their range in the past five years, nearly 400,00 square miles (1,000,000 square kilometers) of perfectly good habitat lies vacant—an area the size of Egypt. Tigers are taken as trophy's. One definition of a trophy is anything taken in war, hunting, competition, etc., especially when preserved as a memento; spoil, prize, or award.  

Demand for tiger parts is skyrocketing. “India's tiger poaching and seizure figures for the first quarter of 2016 are the highest in the past 15 years,” says Belinda Wright, executive director of the Delhi-based Wildlife Protection Society of India. BIZARRE INDEED!