Vladivostok marking Tiger Day

Vladivostok marking Tiger Day

VLADIVOSTOK, September 27 (Itar-Tass) - Vladivostok is marking the Tiger Day for the tenth year running to raise awareness of conservation of the Ussuri Taiga and its animal species – Amur tiger and Far-Eastern leopard.

Traditionally the Tiger Day began from a masked parade – boys and girls dressed in costumes of Ussuri Taiga animals marched across the city’ s central streets with slogans for environmental protection.

This day is annually marked with the support of the Fenix Foundation, International Fund For Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Amur branch of WWF-Russia.

This day is marked not only in Vladivostok, but also in the zoos of Russia, the United States and Europe.

In September 2010, the Year of Tiger in the Chinese Zodiac, Vladivostok will host the high-level ‘tiger’ summit, which will bring together 13 prime ministers of the countries, which territory tigers inhabit.

Delegates will gather to search a solution to the problem of a shrinking tiger population.

Amur tiger is put on the red list of endangered species of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Ninety-five percent of Amur tiger population or around 450 individuals inhabit the Primorsky territory and the south of the Khabarovsk territory. There are only 30-35 individuals of the total population of Far Eastern leopards or Amur leopards in wild life.

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