The past can help keep #tigers for the future. Techniques in indigenous range mapping — figuring out where tigers lived before humans majorly impacted their distribution — can help conservationists learn where tigers and other species are, how they got there, and what we can do to protect them. New study co-authored by experts from our team.👇
Scientists from Wildlife Conservation Society, PANTHERA, IUCN National Museums Scotland, WWF Tigers Alive, New York Botanical Garden, The University of Edinburgh, Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent, and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu are exploring how the past can help keep #tigers for the future. A recent study explores how new techniques in indigenous range mapping — figuring out where tigers lived before humans majorly impacted their distribution — can help conservationists learn where tigers and other species are, how they got there, and what we can do to protect them. 🐅 Tigers have been around for over 2 million years, outlasting early civilizations from #Mesopotamia to the #RomanEmpire and 83 Chinese dynasties. 🐅 Tigers once roamed a vast area, from nearly the Arctic Circle to below the equator at #Bali, and as far west as modern-day Ukraine and Western Turkey to as far east as Japan. Tigers' indigenous range was approximately 11.5 million square kilometers, overlapping 36 modern countries. Today, that range has dramatically decreased, largely due to human intervention, with tigers found in only 10 countries. 🐅 Tigers are habitat generalists. Over the last 9,000 years, they’ve lived in tropical and temperate forests, grasslands and deserts. As long as it’s not too hot and there’s enough prey and habitat, tigers can generally make it work. 🐅 Tigers aren’t constrained by the lines we draw on maps. Some young adult males travel thousands of kilometers to find new territories. 🐅 Rising sea levels had a huge impact on island tiger populations, potentially isolating them for thousands of years. Similarly, climate change might impact future tiger ranges. In some areas, humans began changing tiger habitat over 6,000 years ago. But that knowledge helps us rewrite the future, providing insight into where and how to protect and connect habitat and restore tiger populations. Reintroduction programs are contemplated for Kazakhstan, Thailand and Cambodia. Now's the time to engage in long-term efforts to return tigers to safe and suitable places across their indigenous range. Read the study at https://lnkd.in/dEUaB7CT. 📷: Hardik Pala Photography