Wildlife groups around the world reported that more tigers are being taken from illegal trade in recent years. A report released on November 25, 2025, by TRAFFIC, an organization that watches wildlife trade, said that an average of nine tigers were seized every month from 2020 to June 2025. Most cases happened in 13 countries where wild tigers still live, including India, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The report also said that the number of tigers in the world has dropped from about 100,000 a hundred years ago to only 3,700 to 5,500 today. Experts explained that people look for tiger skins, bones, claws, and live animals, and this demand creates a market that continues the illegal trade.

The study said that trafficking groups now use more careful and advanced methods, so officers need stronger investigations to stop them. The report showed more than 2,500 seizures from 2000 to mid-2025, which involved at least 3,808 tigers. Experts also found that whole tiger bodies and live animals now appear more often in the seizures, increasing from about 10 percent in the 2000s to nearly 40 percent since 2020. Conservation groups warned that captive-breeding centers may be adding to the problem. They also said that the situation is becoming very serious and could cause long-lasting damage unless governments work together to stop the illegal trade.