Artist and conservationist, David Shepherd, is calling for the authorities in India to take a more proactive role to protect tigers.

Only 1,500 tigers are left in India. Shepherd is trying to raise awareness of the problem and protect as many as he can.

Rampant poaching, receding habitat, disorganised park management and too little central government attention to the crisis mean tiger numbers are still on the decline. The Indian tiger could become extinct.

"You can always build another Taj Mahal, but you cannot build another tiger," he told conservation enthusiasts at an evening organised by Wanderlust travel magazine.

One in five mammals are threatened with extinction, according to Mark Carwardine. That is more than 1,000 species.

"Many of them are very close to disappearing," he said. The Tasmanian Tiger and the Stella Sea Cow are extinct. Blue Whale and Northern White Rhino populations are critically low. And African Lion numbers are plummeting.

Success can be achieved with concerted efforts to increase the population of a specific species, however. A good example of this is the increase in the number of mountain gorillas in Uganda and Rwanda.

The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation is raising funds to protect the 80 tigers and the other wildlife in Kaziranga National Park, in Assam, India.