The leaders （领导人） of 13 countries had a big meeting in St Petersburg, Russia from November 21 to 24, 2010.The meeting was about tigers. They talked about the ways to protect the animals in their countries. They agreed to spend more money protecting tigers and they wanted to double the number of tigers in the world before 2022.
Tiger is one of the world's most endangered animals. The World Wildlife Fund （WWF） says, there are only about 100,000 wild tigers now. And the number is becoming smaller and smaller. 'If nothing happens, tigers will face disasters,' said WWF spokeswoman Marie von Zeipel.
Nine types of tigers lived 100 years ago, but now at least three of them have died out. ‘If people leave tigers alone and don't kill them, then the number of tigers will double in 10 years,' said Jean-Christoph Vie, a French tiger expert (专家).
China is one of the 13 countries where tigers live. There are about 50 wild tigers in China now. They are the Bengal tigers in Tibet, Indochinese tigers in China's southwest, and Siberian tigers in the northeast. The South China tigers lived in southeast China many years ago but disappeared in the 1970s. Many experts think they have already died out.
