The tiger's walk into the sunset continues

The number of tigers across the globe (read Asia) is on the rise for the first time in a century. Tigers in the wild, according to the most recent data, number about 3,890, up from an estimated 3,200 in 2010. The increase, a report by the World Wide Fund for Nature says, can be attributed to improved surveys and strengthened protection of the iconic species in India, Russia, Nepal and Bhutan.

The news certainly calls for celebration, especially if you care for the environment, biodiversity or simply wildlife. Any such celebration, however, would be premature.

The WWF report was issued on April 10. But just four days before that, a report that went almost unnoticed (despite the prominence given to it by The Guardian) said tigers are "functionally extinct" in Cambodia. Conservationists said the last tiger in Cambodia was seen on camera trap in the eastern province of Mondulkiri in 2007. "Today, (however,) there are no longer any breeding populations of tigers left in Cambodia, and they are therefore considered functionally extinct," conservationists said in a statement.