The World Bank and INTERPOL have launched an enforcement initiative to protect wild Tigers Click photo to enlarge © Vivek R. Sinha/WWF-CanonDecember 2011—INTERPOL and the World Bank have launched Project Predator, a global enforcement initiative to protect and save the world’s last remaining wild Tigers.

In the early 1900s, Tigers were found throughout Asia and numbered more than 100,000 animals. Current estimates indicate that fewer than 3,200 remain in the wild.

Unrelenting poaching of Tigers, primarily to obtain their skin and bones for decorative or medicinal use respectively, is a major cause of the animal’s decline.

All international trade in Tiger parts is banned under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

Project Predator will provide capacity building to law enforcement agencies to combat illegal trade in Tiger parts and other Tiger-related crimes, strengthening their ability to work with wildlife officials using advanced, intelligence-led methods of investigation.

This new partnership under the Global Tiger Initiative (GTI) brings together officials from the 13 Tiger range countries, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Kingdom’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the World Bank, the Smithsonian Institution and INTERPOL. Several are members of CAWT.