Mission to halt trade in tigers

THEIR population has gone down so sharply that there are fears that tigers may disappear from the earth in a few years' time. While an illicit trade in tiger products continues, particularly in Asia, despite moves to control it, conservationists are stepping up their efforts to help save tigers from extinction.

A leading Australian zoo has introduced an in vitro fertilisation programme for its two Sumatran tigers. The scientific technique that provides a way out for infertile human couples is being seen as a possible solution for tigers too.

Fifteen veterinary science experts from various parts of Australia are involved in the programme to breed tiger cubs at Sydney's Taronga Zoo. They will oversee the artificial reproduction efforts, in which sperm from the male tiger will be injected into a developed egg from the female's body. The fertilised egg will then be implanted into her.

The procedures sound familiar enough these days, but no such programme has been widely used on tigers, now seriously threatened by incessant poaching and the destruction of their natural habitats.

Doctor John Kelly, chief executive of the New South Wales state zoological parks board, says the first tiger test-tube programme was launched in Nebraska, in the United States, two years ago. And it worked, he said.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has put the world's tiger population at between 4,400 and 7,700, down from 100,000 at the beginning of the century.