Wild tiger populations have declined by 96% over the past century, and conservation efforts involve welfare trade-offs across anti-poaching, tiger farms, and coexistence programs.
Wild tiger conservation involves welfare trade-offs: protecting tiger populations requires interventions including collaring for tracking that cause acute stress. Anti-poaching snare removal operations find injured animals requiring veterinary care. Tiger farms raise welfare concerns from crowded confinement conditions and the possibility that they stimulate demand for tiger products. Human-tiger conflict resolution requires non-lethal deterrents that protect both tigers and local communities. The conservation and welfare imperatives are aligned in requiring that wild tiger populations recover in landscapes where coexistence is possible.