Tigers to be moved from India to Cambodia in fight to save them from extinction

Tigers from India could be sent to Cambodia as part of a plan to increase the animal’s global population. The move was agreed to in principle at a ministerial meeting in Delhi of 13 Asian nations with tiger populations. it could see tigers return to the south-east Asian country, where they have just been declared ‘functionally extinct". As well as the Indian tigers, Amur tigers from Russia could be sent to Kazakhstan where big cats have also died out in the wild.

India is willing to help those countries which have lost tiger populations and who want to re-introduce tigers

Indian environment minister Prakash Javadekar

The move comes days after conservationists said the estimated number of wild tigers worldwide has risen for the first time in a century. India is home to more than half the estimated 3,900 tigers left in the wild and Cambodia dry forests bear similarities to India’s. "The meeting has identified relocation of tigers as one of the effective measures for the recovery of population,“ Rajesh Gopal, secretary general of the Global Tiger Forum, told the BBC. "Relocation will take place after necessary preparation of habitat and securing enough prey species for tigers.”

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