Word: wildness
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...Year of the Tiger ends up being anything like every other year over the past few decades, it won't be very good for tigers themselves. The princely animals are among the most endangered species on the planet. In the wild, they number fewer than 3,000; their habitat, which once stretched in Asia from the Pacific Ocean to the Caspian Sea, has shrunk by more than 90% over the past century, and it's shrinking still. "We once had more than 100,000 of these animals," says Sybille Klenzendorf, the director of the World Wildlife Fund's U.S. Species...
...most unexpected threats to the tiger comes here in the U.S., where there are more tigers kept in private captivity then there are surviving wild animals left in the world. Few laws oversee the private ownership of tigers in the U.S., and conservationists worry that captive tigers could too easily end up fueling the illegal global wildlife trade. "There are significant loopholes in U.S. laws that can allow tigers to be exploited," says Crawford Allan, the director of TRAFFIC North America, which tracks the wildlife trade. "We don't know what's happening to them...
...bones, tiger skins are coveted as ceremonial garb in some cultures, or as decoration. (Although the international trade in tigers and tiger parts is illegal, few countries have taken steps to actually enforce the ban.) "Unless we can crack down on the illegal trade and on poachers in the wild, tigers have very little chance of survival," says Keshav Varma, the program director of the World Bank's global tiger initiative. (See a cheapskate's guide to Valentine...
Protecting tigers in captivity is one thing, but the bigger challenge is restoring their numbers in the wild. Deforestation and the ballooning human populations in Asia have chased tigers out of their native habitat. Yet the health of the tiger means the health of the planet. "If there is a tiger in the forest, it's a sign that the forest and the other animals in it are healthy," says Varma. "Tigers are the face of biodiversity." Hopefully, then, 2010 will truly be the tiger's year...
...from the southern Ijaw tribe - the first time the rebels have been able to talk to one of their own in the presidency. And he knows his homeland. In 2007, Edwin Clark, a longtime mentor and powerful backer to Jonathan, took the then newly elected vice president to the wild and dangerous creeks of the Niger Delta. "He met some of the militant leaders," says Clark. "He is aware of their demands, their aspirations and he is aware of everything, the neglect of our people...