Tigers could soon be making a comeback according to the latest forecast by experts.
Scientists say the predator’s global population could almost treble in the next two decades if sufficient action is taken to restore its habitat.
In the past century, tiger populations have been decimated as a result of logging, agriculture, and deforestation to make way for roads, railways and towns.
Today, only around 3,200 wild tigers still live in Asia - 97 per cent fewer than there were 100 years ago, according to conservation group the WWF.
Four of the remaining sub-species of tigers are considered endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and two are listed as “critically” threatened.
However, the tiger could now be turning a corner, according to scientists who have conducted a new satellite image study.The findings show that enough wild habitat remains to allow a doubling of tiger numbers by 2022, the next “Year of the Tiger” in the Chinese astrological calendar.
In the next two decades the global population “could approach a trebling” if essential corridors are restored in the most deforested landscapes and other steps taken, said the researchers led by Dr Anup Joshi from the University of Minnesota, US.
Conservation “corridors” are regions of preserved habitat that connect different areas, allowing animals to extend their territories and avoid interbreeding.
Countries harbouring tigers have committed to doubling wild tiger numbers by 2022.
To estimate the progress made towards this goal, the researchers analysed 14 years of images taken by satellites tracking forest loss in 13 countries where tigers live. They expected habitat loss to be much higher than the 7.7 per cent actually observed.
Writing in the journal Science Advances, Dr Joshi's team concluded: "Our analysis indicates that enough wild habitat remains to allow a range-wide doubling of the wild tiger population ... The global population could approach a trebling in the next two decades."
Two key measures needed to protect the animal were re-introduction in some regions and near real-time monitoring of tiger habitats, said the authors.