"Although terrorist threats, the economy and diseases have knocked the tiger off front page news, its status in the wild remains in need of urgent action," said John Seidensticker, STF Council chairman and senior scientist at the Smithsonian's National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C. "Scaling up efforts together is essential to ensure that we do not lose ground against the remarkable progress made so far and, just as important, that these negative forces do not impede further success."
Despite predictions of doom for this majestic cat, wild tigers continue to survive in a patchwork of areas across Asia, from the tropical rain forests of Sumatra and Indochina to the temperate oak forest of the Amur River Valley in the Russian Far East.
"Save The Tiger Fund has a proud 10-year history focused on the conservation of wild tigers through solid science, improved habitat protection, enhanced capability of local leadership and community engagement - all of which will now grow and deepen by the addition of this new partnership with CEPF," said John Berry, executive director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which established STF in partnership with ExxonMobil Foundation in 1995.
Since its founding, STF has supported 226 tiger-conservation projects in 13 countries. Now STF and CEPF two major grant makers will forge united tiger conservation strategies, catalyzing partner organizations and community groups to combine efforts to benefit tigers and people alike. Par
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Contact: Jason Anderson
j.anderson@conservation.org
202-912-1464
Conservation International
19-Feb-2004