December 23, 2024

How Satellite Technology Is Rewriting Tiger Conservation

Green areas are “empty forests” where tigers arent known to live recently, but since these areas were suitable for tigers in the past and are still big enough to support a tiger population, they are potential landscapes for tiger restoration. The remaining colors show where environment is possibly suitable however tiger home is unknown (brown), and locations where the environment is too fragmented to support tigers (black). Green locations are “empty forests” where tigers arent known to live just recently, but because these areas were appropriate for tigers in the past and are still huge enough to support a tiger population, they are possible landscapes for tiger restoration.

Green areas are “empty forests” where tigers arent understood to live just recently, however because these locations were suitable for tigers in the past and are still big enough to support a tiger population, they are prospective landscapes for tiger repair. The remaining colors show where environment is possibly suitable but tiger home is unknown (brown), and areas where the environment is too fragmented to support tigers (black). These areas might be sources of tigers that can distribute to other locations, according to the study, released in December 2023 in Frontiers in Conservation Science.Advances in Habitat Monitoring and Conservation StrategiesLed by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and funded by NASAs Ecological Conservation program, the team developed a tool that uses Google Earth Engine and NASA Earth observations to keep track of changes in tiger environment. Green locations are “empty forests” where tigers arent known to live recently, however since these locations were appropriate for tigers in the past and are still big enough to support a tiger population, they are possible landscapes for tiger repair. The remaining colors reveal where habitat is potentially ideal but tiger residence is unknown (brown), and areas where the habitat is too fragmented to support tigers (black).