Wild tigers could become extinct in 12 years if countries where they still roam fail to take quick action to protect their habitats and step up the fight against poaching, global wildlife experts told a "tiger summit" Sunday.
About 3,200 tigers remain in the wild, a dramatic plunge from an estimated 100,000 a century ago.
Their habitat is being destroyed by forest cutting and construction, and they are a valuable trophy for poachers who want their skins and body parts prized in Chinese traditional medicine.
The summit approved a wide-ranging program with the goal of doubling the world's tiger population in the wild by 2022 backed by governments of the 13 countries that still have tiger populations: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam and Russia.
The program aims to protect tiger habitats, eradicate poaching, smuggling, and illegal trade of tigers and their parts, and also create incentives for local communities to engage them in helping protect the big cats.
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Malaysia is rich in biodiversity. Many important wildlife such as tiger inhabit Malaysian forests. BUT we do not give a serious effort in conserving this animals including many others such as sunbears, rhinocerous, hornbills, milky storks, elephants...... how far their biology and ecology were studied. How much grants we provide, how many experts we recruit, how the education programme related to wildlife was conducted? We have missed a lot!
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