Tigers need room to roam. Protecting vast connected landscapes for these endangered top predators is key to their survival. For the first time in a century, wild tiger populations are rising. Spurred by the global Tx2 effort, 13 countries that are home to tigers committed to doubling the imperiled cat’s population by 2022.

© Karl Egloff / WWF-US

Global monitoring recorded at least 3,890 wild tigers as of April 2016—a notable increase over 2010 when tigers numbered as few as 3,200. India is home to more than half of these wild majestic cats thanks to improved management and protection. Bhutan, Nepal and Russia’s landscape-scale protections are also proving successful at stabilizing populations.

© Lee Poston / WWF

WWF is supporting the Tx2 strategy on multiple fronts, from keeping tigers a political priority to ranger training, quashing the illegal wildlife trade, enhancing protected area management and helping maintain landscape connectivity. While threats to tigers continue to persist, tiger victories are building as countries shift their focus beyond anti-poaching efforts to taking a holistic approach to connecting wildlife habitat.

© Vivek R. Sinha / WWF-Canon

Nepal is the world’s first country to achieve zero tiger poaching for an entire 365-day period—a testament to persistent conservation efforts and to Chitwan National Park becoming the first protected area to receive Conservation Assured Tiger Standard accreditation, developed by tiger and protected area experts, including WWF.