RUSSIA: BRITISH GOVERNMENT AND COMPANIES DONATE FUNDS TO SAVE THE SIBERIAN TIGER AND LEOPARD AND RUSSIA'S AMUR CONSERVATION GROUP

Record ID: 858695

  • Title: RUSSIA: BRITISH GOVERNMENT AND COMPANIES DONATE FUNDS TO SAVE THE SIBERIAN TIGER AND LEOPARD AND RUSSIA'S AMUR CONSERVATION GROUP
  • Date: 4th February 2002
  • Summary: STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF POACHED SIBERIAN TIGER SCU SLIDE SHOWING SIBERIAN TIGER SCU AMUR POSTER FOR CAMPAIGN TO SAVE SIBERIAN TIGER AND LEOPARD
  • Embargoed: 19th February 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
  • City:
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Environment,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVADUFM8LXIET31VZOOQA1HF1SNN
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: The British government and some of Britain's most prominent companies have lined up to donate funds and materials they hope will help in the battle to save the Siberian tiger and leopard.
    At a news conference held at the British Embassy in Moscow on Monday (February 4), London's ambassdor to Russia, Sir Roderick Lyne, announced that 60,000 U.S. Dollars had been allocated to the Russia's animal conservation group AMUR.
    AMUR have launched a new campaign in 2002 to highlight the plight of the Siberian tigers and leopards and to raise funds for their work. According to latest figures some 400 Siberian tigers are left in the wild and only between 20 to 40 leopards.
    "I am very happy to announce today that the British government will be donating 60,000 (U.S.) dollars to help save tigers in Russia's Far East region," said Sir Roderick in Russian, flanked by representatives of AMUR, British Petroleum (BP) PLC and Britain's Land Rover.
    Land Rover will donate a brand new all terrain (4x4) vehicle to AMUR.
    AMUR's work in saving the Siberian tigers has the backing of London's Zoological Society. A spokeswoman for London Zoo told reporters in Moscow that the only way to save the Siberian tigers was to help preserve tigers in the wild and stop systematic poaching of the animals.
    "To release tigers that were bred in the zoo is difficult, because you have to raise animals that are not familiar with people and teach them how to hunt. So what we are all focusing on now is to save the tigers in the wild and using the ones in the zoos to highlight the plight of the tiger to the attention of the world's people," said Sarah Christie of the London Zoological Society.
    Siberian tigers and leopards are two of the most endangered big cats on the planet. They have had a difficult time over the past hundred year with tigers number as low as 50 individuals in the middle of the 20th century. It gained protection and the number increased until the present day when numbers may be up to 400 adult individuals. The situation with the Siberian leopards is catastrophic. There are only 20 to 40 leopards still left in the wilderness of Russia, China and Korea.
    Today Siberian tigers and leopards face numerous threats.
    The main one is illegal poaching. Hunting tigers in Russia was banned in 1947, but with the disolution of the Soviet Union, illegal hunting has been fueled by demand from across the borders in China and Korea. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that tiger parts will cure sickness.
    Another threat for Amur tigers and leopards is a loss of habitat to fire and logging.
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