Tiger tops list of endangered species

THE battle to save the tiger from extinction is set to be scaled up this year after the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) placed the Asian big cat at the top of its list of the most endangered species.

Only 3,200 tigers are left in the wild – the vast majority of them in India – as the future of the species is threatened by poachers, destruction of their habitat and climate change, WWF conservationists said.

“There is particular importance in selecting a creature such as the tiger for special attention. To save the tiger, we have to save its habitat, which is also home to many other threatened species,” said Diane Walkington, head of species programme for the WWF in Britain. “So, if we get things right and save the tiger, we will also save many other species at the same time.”