Heads of police and customs from the 13 tiger range states have agreed to improved collaboration to protect wild tigers Click image to enlarge © TRAFFIC Bangkok, Thailand, 16th February 2012—Heads of police and customs from the 13 tiger range states have agreed to improved cross-border collaboration and other measures to tackle the illegal trade in the Asian big cats.

The announcement was made following a two-day meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, organized by INTERPOL and hosted by the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC).

26 senior crime officials and representatives from partner organizations, including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) attended.

The meeting also formally endorsed Project Predator, an initiative launched by INTERPOL in November 2011 that aims to help translate high-level political will to protect tigers into action on the ground.

Range states are also being encouraged to establish National Tiger Crime Task Forces through the Project Predator initiative.

In November 2010, at a summit in St Petersburg, Russia, senior representatives from the Tiger range states pledged to double the global population of tigers by 2022.

Poaching and habitat loss are the two principal threats facing the survival of wild tigers today.

The animals have lost 93% of their historic range, and more than 40% of their range in the last decade.

Today there are believed to be fewer than 2,500 breeding adult Tigers left in the wild, and their numbers are declining.

Tigers are killed for their bones and other body parts, which are in high demand in parts of Asia mainly for use in traditional and non-traditional medicines.