World leaders meet for tigers

Yesterday's heads of state agreed to establish a tiger conservation program in Russia's big cat summit.

The number of tigers is only about 3,200 in 2010.

The international tiger summit opens in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg on November 21 and will end on November 24. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin chaired the conference.

' This is the unprecedented meeting of world leaders with a focus on doubling the number of tigers. The Global Tiger Initiative is an example of a balance between economic development and nature conservation, ' AFP quoted Jim Adams, World Bank and East Asia and vice president of the World Bank, in the speech at the conference.

The leaders agreed to the establishment of a program to double the number of tigers in the world, and to call organizations and individuals to sponsor the program. The World Bank argues that tiger rescue efforts - such as fighting poachers and encouraging tiger protection - need at least $ 350 million over the next five years.

A century ago about 100 thousand tigers existed on the earth. Trafficking in tiger parts and habitat decline make the number of tigers only about 3,200 in 2010.

The International Nature Conservation Fund (WWF) warned of an endangered tiger in the next year of the Tiger (2022).

" The success of efforts to save tigers depends on the political goodwill of the tiger countries ," said WWF Director General James Leape.

13 countries with tigers in the world include: Russia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam. Conservation experts stress that China and India will be the two countries with the largest role in tiger protection.

About half of the world's tigers live in India, while China is where the tiger's parts are the most consumed.

' The consumption of tiger parts in China has become increasingly serious. Chinese officials are and will face many obstacles in their efforts to prevent, because the habit of using tiger parts has existed for thousands of years , "said Alexei Vaisman, an expert with WWF.

Russia is the only country where the number of tigers has increased in recent years. In the 1960s the country had only about 80 to 100 children. But now the number of tigers in Russia has reached 500.