Russia Launches Program To Save Tigers Worldwide

GARY PEACH

MOSCOW (AP) — Vladimir Putin has made headlines by championing the endangered Siberian tiger — posing with a cuddly cub and placing a tracking collar on a full-grown female in the wilds of his country's Far East. Now Russia is helping plan an ambitious program it hopes can double the global tiger population by 2022.

Russia hopes to hold a "tiger summit" in the Far East city of Vladivostok in September to coordinate multinational efforts to protect the Amur tiger, its habitats and increasingly scarce food sources, representatives of Russia's Natural Resources Ministry, the World Bank and the World Wildlife Fund said Wednesday.

"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."

The meeting would be hosted by Putin, Russia's powerful prime minister, and include leaders of countries such as India and China, according to Chestin and Deputy Natural Resources Minister Igor Maidanov.

The goal of the program, which could involve as many as 13 countries, would be to double the number of tigers worldwide to some 6,500 by 2022. Chestin said this would require a total $1 billion (euro0.67 billion) from all participating countries — a target he said could be met with both government funds and private sponsorship.