India's Tigers Number Half as Many as Thought

India's wild tiger population is now between 1,300 and 1,500—less than half of what it was in 2002—according to preliminary estimates from an ongoing government census. The new numbers—announced at a gathering of conservationists in New Delhi last week—are a shocking drop from the previous population estimate of about 3,600. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has been conducting the new tiger census as part of a government-funded effort that has been appointed the equivalent of ten million U.S. dollars.