Beauty, grace and power make the tiger one of the world's most loved animals, yet it is precisely these qualities that have contributed to the tiger's peril. Poaching, loss of habitat and prey, and conflicts between people and wild tigers have caused a catastrophic decline in the worldwide tiger population. If wild tigers are to survive through the next century, we must act now. Riding the Tiger is a comprehensive, scientific, and eminently readable account of the problems and possible solutions of securing a future for wild tigers. Lavishly illustrated in full color, the book is written by leading conservationists working throughout Asia. It looks at tiger ecology and biology, examining the tiger in both its natural setting and in our own consciousness. In exploring our efforts at conservation, the book addresses topology and population dynamics. Later sections discuss prey depletion and region-specific studies. Riding the Tiger is a vital information resource for tiger conservationists in the field, as well as necessary reading for serious students of carnivore conservation and conservation biologists in general. For the general reader, it is an accessible and elucidating overview of tiger conservation. John Seidensticker is Curator of Mammals at the National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution. With extensive experience in Bangladesh, Nepal, India, China, Russia, Thailand and Indonesia, he has worked on the conservation biology of wild carnivores for more than 25 years, and is currently Chairman of the Save the Tiger Fund of the US National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Mobil International. Sarah Christie is Conservation Programmes Co-ordinator at the London Zoo. Having overseen the expansion of the Zoological Society of London's tiger conservation programme, she is active in the implementation, management and collaboration of tiger conservation programmes around the world. Peter Jackson is Chairman of the Cat Specialist Group at the World Conservation Union (IUCN). A freelance writer and photographer, Jackson was previously the Chief Correspondent on the Indian subcontinent for Reuters News Agency, and has contributed to Smithsonian Magazine, International Wildlife, and BBC Wildlife. He has traveled widely in Asia, Africa, and the Americas and has published extensively on tiger conservation.