At the invitation of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin heads of state from the tiger range and friends of tiger countries are joining him in St. Petersburg next week for a four-day global summit on the wild tiger. World leaders in attendance are expected to lend their political weight to a top-level ongoing discussion to address looming threats to tiger populations in their countries, and how nations can collaborate on the most effective ways to protect and recover tiger populations.

China and Russia have agreed to create the first cross border tiger conservation reserve for the rare Siberian tiger along the border, the World Wildlife Organization said. The two countries have agreed to establish a reserve along the Jilin province of China and Primosky in Russia, bordering areas that are home to the Siberian tiger.

Siberian tigers struck by disease

A mystery disease is driving the Siberian tiger to the edge of extinction and has led to the last animal tagged by conservationists being shot dead in the far east of Russia because of the danger it posed to people, the London Observer newspaper has reported

The 10-year-old tigress, known to researchers as Galya, is the fourth animal that has had a radio collar attached to it for tracking to die in the past 10 months. All had been in contact with a male tiger suspected of carrying an unidentified disease that impaired the ability to hunt. "We may be witnessing an epidemic in the Amur tiger population," said Dr Dale Miquelle, the Wildlife Conservation Society's (WCS) Russia director.