Good-bye, 2009. Hello, Year of the Tiger!

As I leave 2009 behind full of good (some bad, but mostly good) memories, I am also looking forward to 2010 - because I was born in the Year of the Tiger!

I like tigers. They are one of my favorite animals in the world, mostly because of my birth sign, but also because it is the 3rd animal of the cycle (my favorite number) and because it is yellow (my favorite color) and black.

I even had the chance to see and touch one in-person when I assisted in the health check-up of captive tigers when I was an intern in Taipei Zoo two summers ago. I don't think I will ever forget the moment.

Photo taken on 2008-08-25.

While tigers, the largest of all cats, is one of the most charismatic species in the world and one of the first animals that come to mind when we think about the jungle, we need to bare in mind that it is also one of the most threatened. There is only 1 species of tiger and 9 subspecies, and 3 out of the 9 subspecies have already gone extinct in the past century.

There are more fundamental information about tigers on the WWF website that I think people might be interested in. Afterward, donate, raise awareness, tell your children, do whatever, but please think about this animal as we move into the Year of the Tiger. Me personally would like to see these animal still living in the world many more Chinese Zodiac cycles down the road and perhaps even see them in the wild (like I always read about in the Walk the Wildness blog, an excellent blog to check out) - safe and surviving.

Happy New Year to all!

365 days ago (2008-12-31) ...
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