Locals and researchers are working together to bring back these big cats—tigers.
A tiger, (1)
weighing
700 pounds, 10 feet long, walks quietly through the forest. (2)
Its
orange-and-black fur matches sunlight shining through the woods. Tigers are much (3)
larger
, more beautiful and more graceful than you think.
Tigers in (4)
trouble
Tigers once lived across all of Asia, in dense jungles, open grasslands and snow-covered forests. (5)
However
, people lived in these places too. They cut down trees for firewood and hunted deer and wild hogs, which tigers eat. Also, the living conditions of these tigers were becoming (6)
worse
than before. Some people killed tigers to use their bones for medicine, even though it was (7)
useless
.
On the mend
Tigers were protected by the US Endangered Species Act in 1973, making it illegal (非法的) to buy or sell tigers or their parts in the United States. Other countries took action as well. But these weren't (8)
enough
. Tigers would disappear very fast if things didn't change.
In 2010, all 13 countries where tigers lived agreed to work together to save the tigers. (9)
Locals
, to protect tiger habitats, many countries created new reserves for the animals.
Cat comeback
In 2023, conservationists found that the world's tiger numbers were 40 per cent higher than they thought, with up to 4,485 tigers in the world. Everybody loves tigers and tries to keep tigers (10)
safe
and free. They hope future generations will also have a chance to see tigers.