Tiger numbers are increasing across five of the countries where the endangered big cat is found, conservationists have said.

The number of wild tigers is on the increase in Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Russia, a decade on from the launch of an ambitious scheme to double the population of the species.

The TX2 initiative was launched in 2010 when it was estimated that wild populations of the cat were at a historic low with as few as 3200 animals remaining across the 13 “range” countries where they are found.

It aims to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022, the next Chinese Year of the Tiger.

In India, the number of wild tigers has more than doubled from 2006 to 2018 and is estimated at between 2600 and 3350 animals – about three-quarters of the world’s population.

Celebrate #InternationalTigerDay tomorrow @AustraliaZoo. You could win a gift basket, including @RobertIrwin’s Sumatran tiger photos, when you donate to help tigers in the wild. Go to the link to donate, as well as getting details on all the fun:https://t.co/lks6BENtPF pic.twitter.com/PAXyEEk2BR

— Terri Irwin (@TerriIrwin) July 28, 2020

The population in Nepal’s Bardia National Park alone has increased from just 18 tigers in 2008 to 87 in 2018, wildlife charity WWF said.

In Russia, Amur tiger numbers have increased by 15 per cent in the past 10 years to around 540 animals, and in Bhutan’s Royal Manas National Park the population rose from only 10 tigers a decade ago to 22 in 2019.

In 2010 China had no more than 20 wild tigers, most of which had crossed the border from Russia.

But the country recorded a landmark moment in 2014 when camera traps captured footage of a tigress and her cubs in Jilin Wangqing Nature Reserve, indicating that tigers were breeding in China again and dispersing into new areas.

Out of the 50 tiger reserves in India, 3 have no tigers left.

Mizoram – Dampa reserve
West Bengal – Buxa reserve
Jharkhand – Palamau reserve pic.twitter.com/FSrppEyJ0S

— Nidhi Taneja (@NidhiTanejaa) July 28, 2020

Becci May, regional manager, Asian Big Cats, at WWF UK, said: “Ten years ago, tigers were in such a perilous state that there was a very real risk of them becoming extinct in the wild.

“From that population low in 2010, they are finally making a remarkable comeback in much of South Asia, Russia and China, thanks to co-ordinated and concerted conservation efforts in these countries.”

There are still only around 3900 tigers in the wild, where they are under threat from poaching for the illegal wildlife trade, and the destruction and breaking up of their habitat across much of their range, WWF said.

The key to helping wild tiger populations recover is to focus on conserving landscapes where they can thrive and ensuring communities in these wildlife-rich areas are supported and included in conservation, the organisation said.

-AAP