The Siberian Tiger Monitoring Program has released results indicating that Siberian tiger numbers are falling in the Russian Far East, primarily due to poaching and habitat degradation. The results can hopefully be used to improve conditions for tigers in Russia. Official estimates of Siberian tiger numbers in Russia come from full range surveys conducted only once every 10 years. The last such survey, conducted in 2005, revealed that 428-502 tigers resided in Russia. Yearly monitoring program was designed to act as an “early warning device” in case changes in the status of tigers occurred between full range surveys. In 2009, only 56 adult tigers were counted on 16 “early warning” survey units (in contrast to 115 tigers counted in 2005 at the same spots), representing a 40% decrease from the 12-year average.

[Read the rest of this article...]