It is estimated that in the beginning of the 20th century,over 10,000 tigers roamed throughout most of Asia, from the shores of the Caspian sea to far-eastern Siberia and down through the Indonesian islands till Bali. Out of the original eight species of tigers, only five still exist, the other three being extinct, thanks to incessant killing by ruthless poachers. Currently, the total number of tigers in the wild, is estimated to range as low as 5,000 to a maximum of 7,000.The WWF believes that up to 1,000 tigers per year are being killed by poachers,although it is difficult to accurately account for numbers in this illegal trade.However, at any rate of extermination,these majestic felines are on a tailspin dive toward extinction.