Meanwhile, Russian and American scientists studying tiger ecology used the winter snows of 1995-96 to track tigers and analyse their footprints in order to estimate numbers. Clearly the Amur tiger was surviving. Importantly, nearly all these tigers constitute a single sub-population in continuous forests in the territory of Primorye and part of Khabarovsk. This may be the largest single population left and from a genetic point of view it is a healthy situation. Large blocks of potential tiger habitat also exist in south-east Asia, but the dense rain forests make counting tigers and other animals exceptionally difficult.
Ground surveys suggest that tigers have been greatly reduced in numbers.
India boasts more than half the world's surviving 5,000-7,500 tigers, but the population has been heavily fragmented by loss of habitat. Only three reserves are estimated to have over 100 tigers, and some have fewer than 30. The vulnerability of isolated small groups of tigers to poaching and genetic deterioration through inbreeding, along with continued habitat loss to human use, suggests that numbers will continue to decline. The larger sub-populations have a reasonable chance. But, ultimately, the tiger will only live on if people are willing to coexist with it.