Wednesday, November 24, 2010

"the world’s largest cat may disappear"


Tens of millions of dollars have been spent to try to save tigers in the wild, but their numbers have continued to spiral downward over the past two decades.

Hunted for their pelts and bones, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine, as few as 3,200 tigers are estimated to be roaming in the wild today. They are found mostly in isolated pockets spread across fragmented forests. Conservationists have warned that the world’s largest cat may disappear altogether by 2022 -- the next year of the tiger, according to the Chinese zodiac.

Russia this week is hosting an international summit in St. Petersburg aimed at saving the endangered wild tiger.

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