Where can you go wild tiger watching ?

Well, mankind has really hammered this species, but there are a few remaining subspecies of tigers left in the wild, the most common being the Royal Bengal Tiger native to the mainland of Asia, which makes up almost 80% of the entire tiger population in the world. Tiger watching the bengal tiger can be found in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Nepal but has disappeared from the Caucasus, Java and Bali. Go tiger watching in Sunderbans national park, in India.

Most popular ecotourism related tiger watching tours will go to a national game reserve or tiger watching reserve. This is considered to be the best option for the ecotourist as the set up will ensure your safety, give you good access to tiger watching and complies with the principles of what is ecotourism.

The Indochinese tiger, also called Corbett's tiger, is found in Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. You will have some difficulty tiger watching in Cambodia and Vietnam.

The Malayan tiger is found exclusively in the southern Malaysian part of the Malay Peninsula. Please be very careful when considering tiger watching in Malaysia.

The Sumatran tiger is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and is critically endangered. Tiger watching is really not a good option in Sumatra due to the very small numbers. The wild population is estimated at between 400 and 500.

The Amur tiger also known as the Siberian, Manchurian or North China tiger, is confined completely to the Amur region in far eastern Siberia, where it is now protected. Again, your decision on where to go tiger watching must take into account the wider political and personal safety issues involved.

The South China tiger also known as the Amoy or Xiamen tiger, is the most critically endangered subspecies of tiger and is listed as one of the 10 most endangered species in the world. It will almost certainly become extinct. This is an absolute disaster - please consider other tiger watching options.

Some typical tiger watching tours in India region from Naturetrek include : tiger watching at the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, a 9-day tiger watching holiday to Kaziranga National Park in Assam, a 13-day tour of tiger watching at Kanha, India's most rewarding Tiger Reserve, tiger watching at Ranthambore Tiger Reserve and a 10-day tiger watching holiday to Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh and the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.

Where you can no longer go tiger watching in the wild

The Balinese tiger has always been limited to the island of Bali. These tigers were hunted to extinction—the last Balinese tiger is thought to have been killed at Sumbar Kima, West Bali on 27 September 1937; this was an adult female. No Balinese tiger was ever held in captivity. The tiger still plays an important role in Balinese Hindu religion.

The Javan tiger was limited to the Indonesian island of Java. It now seems likely that this subspecies became extinct in the 1980s, as a result of hunting and habitat destruction, but the extinction of this subspecies was extremely probable from the 1950s onwards (when it is thought that fewer than 25 tigers remained in the wild). The last specimen was sighted in 1979, but there was a re-ignition of reported sightings during the 1990s.

The Caspian tiger or Persian Tiger appears to have become extinct in the late 1950s, with the last reliable sighting in 1968, though it is thought that such a tiger was last shot dead in the south-eastern-most part of Turkey in 1970. Historically it ranged through Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, the former Soviet Union, and Turkey.

You can learn more about saving the tiger at the following links

Save the tiger fund ..... Sundarbans Tiger project ..... WWF tiger project

Other tiger watching ideas include youtube video clips like this tame bengal tiger