The number of tigers in the wild remains dangerously low: it does not reach 3,500 specimens (there were about 100,000 at the beginning of the 20th century). Habitat loss and illegal hunting threaten the international goal of doubling the number of wild individuals of the species by 2022.
However, last year, a piece of information gave these iconic predators hope: their population in India had grown by 30% since 2010 – from 1,706 to 2,226 – thanks to aggressive conservation strategies. Now, images taken from satellites have revealed that the destruction of the Asian forests where these animals still resist is less than expected.
A work recently published in the journal Science Advances has compiled observations from satellites of the decrease in forest mass between 2000 and 2014 in 76 regions of China, Indonesia, India and Russia considered essential for the conservation of the tiger. The information gathered reveals that less protected land has been lost than expected , and that serious problems for the big cat’s habitat are reduced to 10 of the 76 areas necessary for its survival.
Big Data applied to conservation
The research, led by conservationist Anup R. Joshi of the University of Minnesota, has been made possible thanks to free access to satellite information and the use of Google Earth Engine , a platform that stores petabytes of satellite data and enables that are interpreted with high-performance software.
Technological advances are making it possible to collect huge amounts of information and analyze it with great speed. Thus, scientists can see how the areas where the tiger lives evolve and more accurately estimate the probable number of specimens and which are the most threatened areas.
Despite the signs favorable to the recovery of the tiger, its situation continues to be worrying : the conversion of its habitat into urban communities and crops (especially palm oil) keeps its future hanging by a thread.
