BEIJING – A century ago, some 500 Tigers roamed across the great plains of northeastern China at its border with Russia, Korea, and China. The population had been reduced to seven individuals by 1998, years of economic growth, poaching, and human encroachment. This was a shocking development in a country which has always revered large cats.
What has been happening since then is an extraordinary success story in conservation. The remarkable success story in conservation has been achieved in the northeastern China. This is the area where wild tigers can still be found. According to recent studies by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the World Wildlife Fund, this is an “exceptional recovery.”