The populations of Siberian tigers and narwhals since $1990$ are represented by the following tables: || **Tigers** || Time (years)| Population - | - | - $0$ | $1204$ $3$ | $1050$ $6$ | $902$ $9$ | $752$ $12$ | $601$ || **Narwhals** || Time (years)| Population (in thousands) - | - | - $0$ | $200$ $4$ | $175$ $8$ | $150$ $12$ | $125$ $16$ | $100.1$ **Determine whether the data described in the tables is *best* modeled by a linear function or an exponential function.** [[☃ categorizer 1]]