The Russian outdoorsman-in-chief is hosting an international summit to save the tiger. In the last century, the world tiger population has dropped from 100,000 to 3,200, and continued demand for illicit tiger products threatens the survival of the species. Not on Putin’s watch. — PZS

AP via Yahoo:

Tigers once roamed most of Eurasia from the Tigris River to Siberia and Indonesia. But in the past century, the number of countries that are home to tigers has dropped to 13 from 25, while three of the nine tiger subspecies have become extinct. The World Wildlife Fund and other experts say only about 3,200 tigers remain in the wild, a dramatic plunge from an estimated 100,000 a century ago.

Russia is among the 13 countries with remaining tiger populations, and the St. Petersburg summit is hosted by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. He has bolstered his image by posing with a cuddly cub and placing a tracking collar on a full-grown female in the country’s Far East.

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