Wild tigers are in a precarious state. Habitat loss and intense poaching of tigers and their prey, coupled with inadequate government efforts to maintain tiger populations, have resulted in a dramatic range contraction in tiger populations. Tigers now occupy 7 percent of their historical range, and in the past decade, the area occupied by tigers has decreased by as much as 41 percent, according to some estimates. If tigers are to survive into the next century, all of the governments throughout the species' range must demonstrate greater resolve and lasting commitments to conserve tigers and their habitats, as well as to stop all trade in tiger products from wild and captive-bred sources. Where national governments, supported in part by NGOs (nongovernmental organizations), make a consistent and substantial commitment to tiger conservation, tigers do recover. We urge leaders of tiger-range countries to support and help stage a regional tiger summit for establishing collaborative conservation efforts to ensure that tigers and their habitats are protected in perpetuity.

and Colleagues Jiang and colleagues continue to propose misinformed and fallacious solutions to the crisis facing wild tigers. They state that captive breeding is essential to conserve wild tigers, yet China lacks space to release captive tigers into the wild. Instead, they suggest tiger farms as a solution to preserving ex situ genetic diversity. No credible zoo would suggest that rapidly bred captive tigers can contribute to genetic conservation stock. Jiang and colleagues confirm that their real goal is not conservation but economics: to breed tigers to sell their parts. To its credit, China has maintained a successful domestic ban on trade in tiger parts since 1993, even though a small minority of government officials have campaigned recently to lift it in response to pressure from tiger-farm owners. If tigers had effective protection throughout their range to accompany the trade ban, they would be flourishing; enough habitat exists to support four to five times their current population size. China’s ban has, in fact, reduced demand; lifting it would undermine years of education and enforcement efforts. Jiang and colleagues state that “the cost of killing a wild tiger is very high and creates a disincentive.” The cost is not high economically, particularly in other range countries where poaching and smuggling are rampant. Recent press about bear and tiger parts smuggled into China further demolishes Jiang and colleagues’ arguments that China’s borders are impenetrable to illegal wildlife products. A new survey by the Save the Tiger Fund (2007) shows that a majority of the Chinese populace supports keeping the ban, and would forsake tiger products to protect wild tigers. The traditional Chinese medicines industry supports retaining the ban. China should be promoting to the world the promising tiger conservation programs along its border with Russia. With proper protection, Amur tiger populations can expand rapidly—an outcome for which China would receive universal praise. ERIC DINERSTEIN SYBILLE KLENZENDORF TIM O’BRIEN JUDY MILLS JOHN SEIDENSTICKER ROSS SIMONS Eric Dinerstein (e-mail: eric.dinerstein@wwfus.org) and Sybille Klenzendorf are with the World Wildlife Fund in Washington, DC; Tim O’Brien is with the Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, NY; Judy Mills is with the Save the Tiger Fund, Washington, DC; John Seidensticker is with the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; and Ross Simons is with Simons Associates, Alexandria, VA.

The People's Republic of China has designated a system of reserves in the mountains that rim the Sichuan Basin as areas to be managed specifically for the conservation of the giant panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca. We were invited to visit three of these reserves in April and May 1981 as guests of the China Association for Science and Technology and the Ministry of Forestry. Two reserves, Wanglang (27,000 ha) and Tangjiahe (40,000 ha) are located in the headwaters of the northern tributtaries of the Chang Jiang (Yangtze) in the Min Shan, 400 km north of Chengdu. The Fengtongzhai (40,000 ha), type locality of Ailuropoda, is in the Qionglai Shah, 250 km west of Chengdu. We describe the physiography, faunistic and floristic position, and conservation management of these areas. Major issues in the conservation of Ailuropoda are discussed.