Conservationists from more than a dozen countries are meeting in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, to discuss ways of stemming the rapid decline in the number of tigers in the wild.

They are attending the first general assembly meeting of the Global Tiger Forum.

"The tigers face a very serious situation," says Christopher Hails of the World Wide Fund for Nature.

"The numbers now are down to a few thousand from tens of thousands not too long ago."

In Asia, their forest habitats are shrinking as human populations grow.

Christopher Hails says he sees a conflict between the needs of the tiger and the needs of humans: "The tiger feeds on natural prey which require in their turn large areas of natural habitat to survive.

"The big challenge that all conservationists face in developing countries is being able to reconcile those needs for large areas of undisturbed natural habitat with the pressures that a burgeoning human population places upon them."

Medicines

Another threat to the tigers' survival is poaching. Tiger bones and skin are used for medicines in many Asian countries and bans on hunting are often difficult to enforce.

Conservationists are hoping the first general assembly meeting of the Global Tiger Forum will encourage richer nations to help poor countries like Bangladesh fund tiger protection.

So far however, out of 14 countries with tiger populations only five have joined the forum.

India and Bangladesh are members but China, probably the biggest market for tiger products, has stayed out.

The Global Tiger Forum was founded in 1994 but it has taken six years to organise its first general assembly.

Some conservationists fear that efforts to save the tiger are moving too slowly to have the kind of impact they would like.