The world's tiger population may have halved in the past quarter of a century, conservationists from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have warned.The WWF told a conference in Stockholm there might be only 3,500 tigers left, and that one sub-species, the South China Tiger, could soon be extinct.
Chinese demand for tiger body parts - used in traditional medicine - was described as one of the main threats.
But the WWF said if proper measures were taken, tiger numbers could rise.
Conservationists have recently bought up land concessions from governments in an effort to combat the destruction of forests still inhabited by tigers.
'Human-tiger conflict'
The WWF's co-ordinator in Nepal, Bivash Pandav, painted a bleak picture as he described the problems facing tigers across the world, saying he believed there were some 3,500 tigers left, compared with an estimated 5,000-7,000 in 1982.
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