“The global movement to protect tigers just got one million acres stronger,” says David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery Communications, who made the announcement. In the last century, the wild tiger population has dropped by an astonishing 96%, to less than 4 000 left in the wild due to habitat loss and pervasive poaching. Given ample space, prey and protection from poaching, tiger populations can rebound.

Discovery’s sponsorship of this trans-boundary landscape will allow rangers to closely monitor tiger health and other key scientific data, take additional anti-poaching safeguards, and maintain land to improve the movement of all wild animals.

The effort to double the number of tigers, a species at the top of the food chain, will protect other endangered species and stimulate a healthy ecosystem across the nearly 1 million acre site.

WWF’s efforts include conservation of additional tiger sites, across all 13 tiger range countries, with scientific analysis and monitoring of tigers and their prey, as well as advocating for, and raising awareness of tiger conservation, and eliminating illegal wildlife trade around the world.

“Tiger populations are rising for the first time in a century,” says Carter Roberts, president and CEO of WWF. “These numbers reflect the extraordinary commitment of regional leaders and leading philanthropists to double the population of tigers in the wild. We need even more of a movement to accomplish these goals. Discovery's devotion to conservation and impressive reach can only inspire others to join the cause.”

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