Comeback Cats

They’ve been gone for  70 years, but tigers in Kazakhstan may soon come roaring back. With the help of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the country’s government plans to reintroduce the big cats, which became extinct there in the 1940s because of poaching and habitat loss, to the country’s southeast. The program will involve extensively renovating a large reserve, as well as reintroducing tiger prey—such as deer and donkeys—to the area before the felines can be safely brought back, probably around 2025. Worldwide, only about 3,900 tigers remain in the wild—down from 100,000 at the beginning of the 20th century. Kazakhstan’s effort—the first of its kind in the world—has sparked hope that the cats will make a comeback. Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International, is optimistic: “This is a major contribution to securing a future for tigers in the wild.”