The WWF told a conference in Sweden that of those left, one sub-species, the South China Tiger, could soon be extinct largely because of Chinese demand for tiger body parts used in indigenous medicine, the BBC reported. The report said similar extinction threat faces the Sumatran Tiger.

Bivash Panday, coordinator of a conservation group in Nepal, said 25 years ago, the world tiger population was estimated up to 7,000.

The fund, however, noted tiger population can increase with strict conservation measures such as protecting tiger habitat forests.

Sujoy Banerjee, the fund's director in India, said at the start of the 20th century there were an estimated 40,000 Indian tigers but there are about 1,400.

Banerjee said the biggest threat to the Indian tiger is the poor farmer who will take any measure to protect his livestock.

"In many ways the tiger stands at a crossroads between extinction and survival and which path it takes is totally dependent on us," Banerjee said.