19th Century
International Tiger Day
room Myanmar
A hundred years ago there were tens of thousands of tigers across Asia, from the Black Sea to the Pacific and from Siberia to the Indian Ocean. Today there are only a few thousand left in every shrinking enclave. Myanmar is one of 13 countries where tigers still live. In the 19th century, tigers lived in the outskirts of Rangoon, including "Tiger Alley" (now U Wisara Road). In 1903 British soldiers shot a tigress who had wandered onto the Shwedagon pagoda. Since then tiger populations have fallen dramatically, due to hunting and loss of habitat. There may be fewer than 100 tigers left in Myanmar.: in the Hukawng Valley and Tamanthi wildlife reserves and in the Tennasserim hills. Unless more is done urgently, they will very soon disappear forever.
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