The majestic tiger has few places left to hide. Once it roamed free in vast mangrove forests that have been almost completely destroyed by humans.
Poachers get a high price for tiger skins and other body parts used in traditional medicine.
Today, there are only about 7,000 tigers left in the wild, down from more than 100,000 a century ago. Animals like the tiger need large territories to survive. Two United Nations-backed projects are helping countries to protect and manage the remaining natural forests that are home to endangered species. At the same time, these conservation projects provide local communities that depend on forest resources with alternative livelihoods. Straddling India and Bangladesh, the Sundarbans is one of the world's last great coastal wetland ecosystems, covering some 10,000 square kilometers of mangrove forest.