Australian to earn stripes aiding tiger
Source: Xinhua |
December 3, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AN Australian doctoral candidate looks set to be included in a group of volunteers clearing traps set for endangered Siberian tigers in northeast China this winter.
"I really hope to join the trap-clearing campaign. I am looking forward to doing something for the protection of Siberian tigers," Melissa Pettigrew, who is working as a volunteer for the China program of the New York-based non-profit organization Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), said yesterday.
She said she had worked on lizard protection in Australian and is now working to protect Siberian tigers in Heilongjiang Province.
"Melissa loves wild animals very much. It will be good training for her if she can participate in trap-clearing," said Xie Yan, director of the WCS China Program and Pettigrew's instructor.
Some 90 Chinese volunteers will be chosen for the campaign, which has been staged each winter in recent years.
From January 7 to 14, they will clear iron wire ring traps set by poachers in six areas where the tigers roam in Heilongjiang.
"Melissa will probably be chosen because of her wildlife protection experience and excellent professional qualities," said Wang Lin, head of the team. "If admitted, Melissa will be the first foreign volunteer in our campaign."
"That would show that the protection of wild Siberian tigers goes beyond borders," Wang said.
Applications from volunteers must be submitted by December 28, with people of all ages and backgrounds invited to apply, he added.
The campaign is jointly sponsored by WCS, the Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Forestry, the Heilongjiang Provincial Administration of Forest Industry, and the Harbin Daily Newspaper Group.
China has only about 20 wild Siberian tigers, including between 10 and 14 in Heilongjiang.
A wild Siberian tiger was found dead with a trap around its neck in the city of Mishan in Heilongjiang in late October, prompting calls for greater protection.
In the previous campaign, 100 volunteers braved temperatures of minus 30 degrees Celsius to clear 304 traps.
"I really hope to join the trap-clearing campaign. I am looking forward to doing something for the protection of Siberian tigers," Melissa Pettigrew, who is working as a volunteer for the China program of the New York-based non-profit organization Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), said yesterday.
She said she had worked on lizard protection in Australian and is now working to protect Siberian tigers in Heilongjiang Province.
"Melissa loves wild animals very much. It will be good training for her if she can participate in trap-clearing," said Xie Yan, director of the WCS China Program and Pettigrew's instructor.
Some 90 Chinese volunteers will be chosen for the campaign, which has been staged each winter in recent years.
From January 7 to 14, they will clear iron wire ring traps set by poachers in six areas where the tigers roam in Heilongjiang.
"Melissa will probably be chosen because of her wildlife protection experience and excellent professional qualities," said Wang Lin, head of the team. "If admitted, Melissa will be the first foreign volunteer in our campaign."
"That would show that the protection of wild Siberian tigers goes beyond borders," Wang said.
Applications from volunteers must be submitted by December 28, with people of all ages and backgrounds invited to apply, he added.
The campaign is jointly sponsored by WCS, the Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Forestry, the Heilongjiang Provincial Administration of Forest Industry, and the Harbin Daily Newspaper Group.
China has only about 20 wild Siberian tigers, including between 10 and 14 in Heilongjiang.
A wild Siberian tiger was found dead with a trap around its neck in the city of Mishan in Heilongjiang in late October, prompting calls for greater protection.
In the previous campaign, 100 volunteers braved temperatures of minus 30 degrees Celsius to clear 304 traps.
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