Chinese volunteers establish tiger-protection web site < ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
< ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />BEIJING , Jan. 28 (Xinhua) — Chinese volunteers have founded a web site to promote public involvement in protecting tigers, especially endangered wild tigers.
The site (www.ilaohu.org, which stands for “love tigers”) has news, opinions, multimedia information about tigers and a forum where people can discuss tiger-related topics.
The forum is still seeking approval from relevant organizations and will be launched soon, according to a notice on the site.
“Scientists compare large-scale carnivores like tigers to a ruler that measures the health of the ecological system. To save the wild tiger is much more than saving a species; it is to save the ecological system for human beings,” said Ge Rui, a senior official with the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Statistics show that the number of wild tigers has fallen to less than 3,000 worldwide. In China , there are less than 50 wild tigers, among which the number of Manchurian Tigers stands at less than 20.
In the last century, three out of eight tiger sub-species became extinct, and the habitat of wild tigers has shrunk to 7 percent of its original size.
“The protection of tigers requires joint efforts from governments, wildlife protection organizations and all Chinese people,” said Xie Yan, a researcher at the Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
For The Tiger
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http://www.savethetigerfund.org/am/template.cfm?section=Home1
http://www.worldwildlife.org/tigers/
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