Everyone, at some point in time, has named the tiger as their favorite animal, and apart from being stunning and fascinating creature they are far more important then just as a beautiful animal. An obvious benefit to the existence of the tiger is the fact that, as a major predator, they maintain balanced ecosystems within their own habitats. Another less apparent benefit is economically, since tigers are mainly found in large numbers in areas with high poverty rates, such as India or Nepal, the presence of larger numbers of tigers will eventually lead to a tourist trade. This new tourist trade can benefit small businesses in rural communities and provide a greater flow of currency through these areas.
India conducts a census of tiger population every four years, and there latest census for 2018 is set to be released in January of 2019 with tiger numbers estimated to cross over the 3,000 mark. As of 2014 the tiger population was set at 2,226 tigers left in the wild, up 520 from the 2010 number of 1706, which marks the first time that tiger populations have been steadily increasing in one hundred years. The growth factor, just using those most recent values, comes out to around 1.30 with a percentage change of 30.5%, and a rate of change of about 130 tiger increase per year. Strictly looking at these values of exponential growth the 2018 census numbers may fall short of the 3,000 estimation around 2,894 wild tigers. The most recent worldwide numbers for tiger population stand around 3,890.
I did not realize that the tiger population was increasing as I have always believed them to be endangered. I wonder what factors contributed to this population increase. This is great news, I am very relieved that such a beautiful creature is doing better.
This was fantastic, an interesting approach to the assignment. What made you interested in studying the population growth of tigers? It is nice to learn that with the constant reminder that many species are endangered and then going extinct, that the tiger population is growing.
This was quite interesting to read about, especially because I wrote this week’s blog post about the recent increase in the giant panda population, after they had been deemed extinct. I wonder what the correlation between the increase in both of these populations is, and if there is any connection to the sudden increase?
Like many others, I always believed tigers to be declining in population. It is an exciting thing to know that their population is in-fact increasing at a moderate rate. Your post included the total world tiger population as well as the amount of tigers in India. I had never known that the majority of the world’s tigers inhabit India. I really liked your post!