【英语时差8,16】老虎（在线收听）

To coincide with the start of the Chinese Year of the Tiger, the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) has launched a campaign to increase the number of tigers living in the wild. The organisation estimates that there are currently only 3,200 wild tigers left in the world and that these are under threat from habitat loss, the illegal trade in tiger products and climate change. It says that the global habitat for the animals has decreased by 40% since the last Year of the Tiger in 1998. Nepal, which is home to 121 adult tigers, is one of the countries targeted by the campaign. Conservationists describe Nepal as a global crossroads with the trade in tiger parts. In recent years the number of tigers in the west of the country has plummeted, prompting the Nepalese government to establish a new national park, and set up a bureau to control poaching. The WWF says it welcomes these initiatives and hopes that Nepal will be able to double its tiger population by 2022, the next Chinese Year of the Tiger.