Of the eight original subspecies of tigers, three have become extinct in the last 60 years, an average of one every 20 years.

The Bali tiger became extinct in the 1930's. The Caspian tiger was forced into extinction in the 1970's. And the Javan tiger followed in the 1980's.

And the journey towards extinction continues for the other subspecies.

The number of tigers in the 1900's --over 100,000 -- dropped to 4,000 in the 1970's. Today, they are a critically endangered species with the total of all the wild populations of the five remaining subspecies (Bengal, Indo-Chinese, Siberian, South China, and Sumatran) is an estimated 4,600 and 7,700 tigers.

It is known that all remaining tigers live in small, isolated populations in widely scattered reserves. The largest concentration of tigers in one reserve is about 250.

Today wild tigers exist in Eastern Russia, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao Peoples' Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) , North Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Bhutan, India and Nepal.

The Siberian tiger occupies a very large territory. Ranges of more than 4,000 square miles have been recorded. The tiger may occupy the same territory for many years if food sources are stable within the area. If prey is scarce, it often migrates hundred of miles.

Both males and females mark the boundaries of their ranges with urine and by scratching trees. But only the male defends his territory against other males, concentrating on the most important parts, such as a boundary close to a female's territory or an area rich in food.

The male tiger is solitary, shunning other males. He allows tigers of either sex to pass through his range but is more tolerant of females. The female is sometimes accompanied by her young.