The world's tiger population may have halved in the past quarter of a century and at least one of the remaining five sub-species is in danger of becoming extinct, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) experts said today.
Chinese demand for tiger parts used in traditional medicines and habitat destruction are the two greatest perils facing the big cat, scientists and conservationists said.
Speaking in Sweden at a seminar featuring experts from Asia, Africa and Europe, they said the South China tiger could soon be extinct and the Sumatran tiger population was the next most threatened sub-species.
But WWF officials also said with proper measures, tigers could thrive and increase their numbers by thousands, and they believed the species would survive.
"In many ways the tiger stands at a crossroads between extinction and survival, and which path it takes is totally dependent on us," said Sujoy Banerjee, director of WWF India's species programme.
The WWF's tiger coordinator based in Nepal, Bivash Pandav, said he believed there were some 3,500 tigers left in the world. That compared with rough estimates of about 5,000-7,500 in 1982.
In India, the tiger population has dwindled to about 1,400, 60 per cent fewer than in 2002. Some 40,000 tigers were thought to be in India at the start of the 20th century, but now an estimated one tiger per day is dying there.
Mr Pandav said in Sumatra, Indonesia, the number of tigers had dwindled to about 400 and the situation was now critical as forest areas have been decimated. In 1982 most of the Indonesian island's forest land was intact. By 2004 less than half of it was left, Mr Pandev said.
He said estimates are that by 2050, based on current trends, more than 90 per cent of its forests may be gone due to the logging industry, a potentially disastrous outcome for Sumatran tigers which depend on the forest for their survival.
Mr Pandav said one way conservationists had combated forest destruction was to buy up land concessions from the government. "There is hope to save animals in this place," he said.
"We can easily have 10,000 tigers, if everything goes as per our wish," said Mr Pandav. "I firmly believe that tigers will continue to survive in certain pockets. They're not going to become extinct."