TIGER

These beautiful, powerful cats inhabit diverse landscapes, from rainforests to grasslands, savannahs to mangrove forests and high-elevation habitats, so they play an important role in many ecosystems that supply nature and people with water, food and room to roam.

As top predators in the food chain, tigers help keep their habitats balanced by preying on other animals, mainly herbivores. Too many herbivores would lead to overgrazing and degradation of the ecosystem.

Tigers also drive economies. Where tigers exist, tourists go. And where tourists go, money can be made by communities with few alternatives for income. Tiger conservation projects help provide alternative livelihoods for rural communities.

To safeguard tigers, we need to protect large swaths of forest across Asia where they live. By protecting these biologically diverse places, we can also preserve many other endangered species that live there. And, forests protected for tigers are known to store more carbon than other habitat types, helping to mitigate climate change.