Russia launches program to save Siberian tiger

The Associated Press

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009 | 8:22 a.m.

Russian government and environmental organizations said Wednesday that they will launch a major international campaign to protect the endangered Siberian tiger and begin increasing its population.

Officials from the Natural Resource Ministry and the World Wildlife Fund said the ultimate goal will be to double the current number of Siberian, or Amur, tigers to some 6,500 by the year 2022.

A Russian representative of the World Wildlife Fund said that countries and organizations involved hope to raise up to $1 billion to carry out the ambitious program.

Russia also hopes to carry out a "tiger summit" next year in which government heads of the 13 countries with tiger habitats would participate.

"We decided that this time we should do something serious in order to preserve tigers on our planet," said Igor Chestin, director of the Russian branch of the World Wildlife Fund. "The situation is catastrophic."

Though details on financing were unclear, Chestin expressed confidence that the program's organizers could raise money through government funds, private sponsorship and special events such as concerts.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin _ a crucial ingredient for success _ is expected to support the program, Deputy Natural Resources Minister Igor Maidanov said.

Last year, Putin was given an Amur cub on his birthday and was televised patting a grown female on the cheek after shooting it with a tranquilizer gun as part of a program to track the rare cats on a Russian wildlife preserve.

Russia hopes to conduct the "tiger summit" in the Far East city of Vladivostok in September next year _ which Putin would host _ together with leaders of countries such as India and China. The summit would coordinate efforts aimed at protecting not only tigers but also their habitats and increasingly scarce food sources, Deputy Natural Resources Minister Igor Maidanov said.

The program would include 12 other countries where tigers have natural habitats. Funds would be used to improve these habitats by providing more park rangers and protecting deer and boar that the tiger hunts for food.

The current population of the Amur tiger _ also known as the Ussuri tiger _ is believed to be 3,200 worldwide, according to the WWF. Hunters kill the tiger for its prized pelts and body parts, some of which are used in traditional Chinese medicines, while logging and housing developments have encroached on the tiger's habitats.

Chestin said that in most countries where the tiger lives conditions for survival are "extremely unfavorable," though the situation in Russia _ where some 450 adult Amur tigers live in the Far East _ has stabilized in recent years.