Once upon a time, Tigers numbers were in the hundreds of thousands. Now, there are around 5,000 to 7,200 left in the wild. They are in danger from Habitat fragmentation and loss, poaching, and human developement. Sadly, it is possible that tigers could be gone by 2010. Tiger researchers estimate that there are fewer than 2,500 tigers in the world. But there is a lot of work being done to make sure that tigers will survive. In the early 1970s, India began passing laws against killing tigers. Since then, other countries with wild tigers have passed similar laws. Many countries around the world, including the United States, have passed laws to stop the sale of products made from tiger parts. International projects exist that help protect wild tiger habitat. There were originally eight subspecies of tiger, the Javan, the Bali, the Caspian, the Indochinese, the Sumatran, the Bengal, the Siberian, and the South China tiger. Unbelievably three of the eight subspecies are now extinct. And the tiger has only one predator...MAN!