World's largest tiger sanctuary

Myanmar's government announced that it will set up the world's largest tiger sanctuary to help this animal escape the danger of extinction.

Hukaung Valley in Myanmar.(Source: National Geographic )

Livescience said the said reserve will be located in the Hukaung valley in northwestern Myanmar. In fact, it is not a completely new protected area, but is founded on the expansion of an old reserve.

Hukaung valley has an area of ​​approximately 22,000 km2. Previously a few hundred tigers lived in the valley. But poaching and the decline in the number of prey made the number of tigers reduced to about 50. In 2004, the Myanmar government established a tiger conservation area of ​​6,500 km2 in the Hukaung valley. Now, after 6 years, the reserve will be expanded to reach three times that area.

The decision to expand the Hukaung reserve was approved after Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein and 17 ministers flew to the Hukaung valley earlier this year to assess the importance of the area to active conservation. Endangered animals.

'Myanmar brings one of the greatest hopes in the effort to save tigers in Southeast Asia. The expansion of the conservation area in the Hukaung Valley will be a turning point in tiger protection, 'said Colin Poole, director of the Asia Conservation Association's Asian Programs.

The world has only about 3,000 tigers left.(Source: National Geographic)

Currently the number of tigers in the wild is only about 3,000. A century ago there were about 100,000 tigers in the world. The wild tigers now live in small flocks and are distributed in places separate from the outside world. That situation makes them vulnerable to poaching and the decline of prey. Many tiger reserves have been established in Asia, such as India's Karizanga National Park.

'I dreamed about an event like this for years. Hukaung sanctuary will be one of the most important habitat areas of the tiger in the world. I'm glad the people and the Myanmar government understand the importance of tiger conservation , 'said Alan Rabinowitz, president of Panthera conservation organization. Panthera was founded with the purpose of protecting cats and animals.

Scientists and conservationists believe that tigers will escape the danger of extinction and that their numbers will recover if the biggest threats to them are wiped out. The biggest threats to tigers include hunting and the decline of prey.

In addition to tigers, Hukaung sanctuary can protect many other creatures. Of the 13,500 plant species in the world, approximately 7,000 species only live in the Hukaung valley and do not appear anywhere else on the planet. Scientists also found nearly 370 species of birds in the valley, including the near-endangered heron.