The Chinese New Year marks the year of the Tiger. China has started its new year of the tiger with fireworks, feasting and a new drive by the government, the World Bank and conservation groups to halt the perilous decline of Asia's most powerful wildlife symbol. It is reported that the World Bank, NGOs and the Chinese government are discussing a three-stage, multimillion-dollar scheme to protect the Amur tiger. Measures will include acquiring land for expanded reserves, linking tiger communities, relocating residents, training local officials and reconfiguring forestry management to allow for sustainable economic use and cohabitation by ­predators and prey species.

Since the last tiger year, in 1998, the wild population of the animal worldwide has almost halved to about 3,200 due to habitat loss, economic development and poaching for hides and traditional medicine. China has been among the worst affected. The South China tiger, which has not been seen for many years, is feared to have followed the Bali, Caspian and Java subspecies into extinction in the wild. In the country's north, the population of the Amur tiger – which can grow to three metres in length and 300 kilograms – is estimated at 18 to 22.

Many of these animals are isolated from one another by roads and railways, making it difficult for them to breed. The conservation group WWF warns that the animal may be extinct in the wild in China within three decades if current trends continue... The tiger is the group's priority for 2010.

Read more as http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/07/china-tiger-year-amur-conservation

For further articles of relevance and interest see http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/27-animal-skin-clothes-burned-in-tibet-after-dalai-lamas-call and http://www.tew.org/archived/tiger.skins.rituals.html