Some will roar with pleasure upon reading this news. Wild tigers are 40% more numerous in the world than previously thought, revealed Thursday, July 21, the International Union for Conservation of Nature. This leap “is explained by improvements in tracking techniques, showing (…) that the number of tigers in the world seems to be stable or increasing”writes the IUCN, in its update of its red list of threatened species.
A new count, unpublished since 2015, made it possible to estimate the number of Panthera tigris at between 3,726 and 5,578. “Projects such as the IUCN Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Program are effective and recovery is possible as long as conservation efforts continue”, deduces the IUCN. However, the tiger is not out of the woods and remains an endangered species, due to poaching and “increasing pressures from agriculture and human settlements”.
On the other hand, the migratory monarch, a majestic butterfly capable of traveling thousands of kilometers each year to reproduce, has just joined the IUCN red list. Its population in North America has been declining “between 22% and 72% over the last decade”notes the IUCN.
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Logging, deforestation, but also pesticides and herbicides “kill butterflies and milkweed, the host plant on which monarch butterfly larvae feed”adds the IUCN. “It is painful to watch monarch butterflies and their extraordinary migration teeter on the brink of collapse”says Anna Walker, who led the assessment of this species.
The situation for sturgeons has also gone from bad to worse, including that of the beluga, known for its eggs, which are made into caviar, and its meat, according to this list. It is now 100% of the 26 remaining sturgeon species in the world that are threatened with extinction, a more pronounced decline than previously thought, due to poaching or obstacles to migration.