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Wild tigers could become extinct in 12 years if countries where they still roam fail to take quick action to protect their habitats and step up the fight against poaching, global wildlife experts told a "tiger summit" on Sunday.
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.

James Leape, director general of the World Wildlife Fund, told the meeting in St. Petersburg that if the proper protective measures aren't taken, tigers may disappear by 2022, the next Chinese calendar year of the tiger.

The four-day summit that opened Sunday is hosted by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has adroitly used encounters with tigers and other wildlife to bolster his image.

The Global Tiger Recovery Program estimates the countries will need about $US350 million ($355 million) in outside funding in the first five years of the 12-year plan. The summit will be seeking donor commitments to help governments finance conservation measures.
The summit plans to approve a wide-ranging program aimed at doubling the world's tiger population in the wild by 2022.

THE first thing Tiger Woods needs to do if he wants to remake himself is dump all the enablers. By that, I don't just mean the jerk caddie. I mean the so-called mentors who taught him how to play rent-a-hostess in Vegas. I mean the fawners who laughed at his crude jokes, and looked the other way when he was rude, or penurious. I mean all of the apologists, even the well-meaning ones, who conspired to create such a towering phony.There are a lot of questions surrounding Woods at the moment, from how many women to how long his indefinite leave from golf will last, but most of them are just side issues. The question that really matters, the pressing one, is this: When will Woods become a man? ''Let's please give the kid a break,'' said Mark Steinberg, Woods' agent, recently. Now, Steinberg is a nice guy who obviously cares about Woods. But his client is about to turn 34.The Woods who has emerged in the past few weeks doesn't seem to have matured much since. He seems to have simply graduated from lewd jokes to lewd behaviour. While his public persona grew up, he never did.There's inevitable dissonance in all of us between who we really are and what we show outwardly. But the athletes who seem healthiest and most balanced are those who have fewer reservations about sharing that with others. Interestingly, some of them become truly beloved. It may not be the best way to become a mass market endorser, but it's a decent way to build real relationships.