TIGERS may be wiped out in the wild and consigned to the dustbin of history within just 10 years, a charity claims.

Born Free says the sudden disappearance of the big cats will come after a 96 per cent fall in population in the past 100 years.

3 A world where Tigers are only in zoos could happen within a few years Credit: Alamy

A pitiful 4,000 are thought to prowl wild because of poachers who stalk them in their destroyed habitats in India.

Howard Jones, CEO of Sussex based Born Free, said: “Tigers need our intervention more than ever due to countless threats including human-wildlife conflict.

“[That includes] poaching for their body parts for traditional 'medicine'; and habitat loss due to deforestation and chaotic or ill-considered rural development.

“It's unimaginable to think of a world without tigers but unless we act now, the consequences could be dire.

“We urgently need support for our Living with Tigers initiative so we can encourage human-wildlife co-existence through education and by involving the local community in a number of unique initiatives to improve their livelihoods.”

It's unimaginable to think of a world without tigers but unless we act now, the consequences could be dire Howard Jones, Born Free

Born Free is working alongside seven Indian NGOs to increase efforts to to save the tigers by battling poachers and the increasingly urbanisation in India because of its rapant human population explosion.

Kishor Rithe, Founder of the Satpuda Foundation, which is a partner of the Living with Tigers network, said: “There are canals, roadways, railways, transmission lines and all sorts of projects that are proposed across the landscape.

“I believe that every responsible agency should think about ecological security and have inbuilt mitigation plans with their project proposals.”

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3 Demand in China for medicine made from Tiger bones is fuelling the problem Credit: Alamy

3 Two large royal Bengal tiger cubs prowling along a forest track Madhya Pradesh in India Credit: Alamy

In search of tigers

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