Can Tourism Really Save the Indo-Chinese Tiger?
Reza Azmi The Indo-Chinese tiger or the Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti) is widely distributed across Southeast Asia, namely China, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and eastern Myanmar (Burma). Throughout its range, the Indo-Chinese tiger is under significant pressure from habitat loss, reduced prey-densities and from hunters seeking tiger parts for the illegal traditional Chinese medicine trade. All of these pressures will undoubtedly increase over the next decade. The crux of the question remains, how can tourism actually benefit tiger conservation throughout its range states? If we were to consider Malaysia, which is at the southern end of the distribution of Indo-Chinese tigers, it is possible that tiger-tourism may not be viable at all. Firstly, from a tourism-perspective, tiger tourism outside of the Indian continent is virtually unknown. Secondly, the equatorial rainforest does not allow for easy sightings of tigers. Even if nature tourism based on tigers is v
