Wild Cats Conservation Alliance

Wild Cats Conservation Alliance is a zoo-based initiative and international charity, who since 2000, has been ensuring funds raised towards the conservation of wild tigers and leopards is used efficiently to secure the long-term survival of the species. The alliance currently operates across all major tiger range countries, including China, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand and Russia, by raising awareness and funding carefully chosen projects that address key conservation issues.

The Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica, formerly known as the Siberian tiger) is one of the largest cats in the world and today, fewer than 500 can be found in the Russian Far East, with a small number ranging across the border into China and possibly North Korea. The species has been classified as endangered for many years (IUCN, 2021) due to the devasting effects of habitat loss through logging, hunting and removal of their prey and the illegal wildlife trade. Tigers are highly valued in the traditional medicine market (extending across Southeast Asia), where they are poached for their skin, blood and bone which is worked into traditional medicine practices. The global wildlife trade industry is worth billions of dollars every year and without targeted intervention to protect vulnerable species, those such as the Amur tiger, are facing a very real threat of extinction.

Independently reviewed conservation projects encompassing threat reduction, population monitoring, antipoaching strategies, conflict mitigation, wildlife crime investigation and education and community engagement are identified for donors such as zoos to help fund vital conservation work to benefit these majestic big cats. Through working with governments, local communities and religious leaders, the alliance acts within the Global Tiger Recovery Programme (launched in 2010) to coordinate an increase in protected area patrols, and camera trap sites and encourage local people to protect endangered wildlife by switching to sustainable hunting methods. During the last year, Nepal has tripled its number of tigers since 2010 to 355 wild individuals through projects coordinated by the alliance.

Blackpool Zoo has supported Wild Cats Conservation Alliance for many years and has provided financial and educational support to the charity each year since. Our support has always helped to further projects where it is needed most. Such as, working to eliminate snares crippling Sumatran tigers in Indonesia, supporting staff and patrolling efforts for the Amur tiger within national parks in the Russian Far East, and community engagement to report illegal activity along the Russia-China border. Research conducted through population monitoring and camera trapping indicates that we still have a long way to go with increasing the number of tigers inhabiting key areas and maintaining the safety of the landscape through patrols.

When you visit the zoo, explore our Big Cat Habitat and attend our big cat talk to learn more about how the Wild Cats Conservation Alliance is helping to recover big cats from the brink of extinction.