Dear Friend of Nature,

There are many heart-wrenching encounters that keep pushing us to fight against the ruthless wildlife trade cartels. Let me share with you one such incident.

He was a beautiful, 5-year-old Malayan tiger our team had rushed to rescue. How long had he been struggling to free himself? We don't know. But the snare had cut through his skin by the time the team got to him. He was in shock. And for the first time I witnessed a tiger cry. I wept, too, for I well understood the torture he was enduring.

Snares are deadly instruments of mutilation and death. If not found, the animal suffers for days or more, before death comes slowly due to infection or even starvation. Can you imagine how our tiger (and others like him), would have struggled for his freedom, not knowing that each tug, each pull would only cause the snare to dig deeper into him?

We did save him from poachers and in a sense it was a victory, but in the end, the trauma of it all was too much for him to bear.

We are seriously outnumbered by these criminals. Do you know that we have only one Wildlife Protection Unit, which consists of 10 men, that patrols in and around the Belum-Temengor forest. complex? That's an area five times the size of Singapore!

That's why I'm desperately asking for your help.

We urgently need funds to increase the size of our WPU. A gift of RM100 or more from you at this critical time would go immediately towards placing more officers in the field to protect our tigers.

Only with more people on our side, do we stand a good chance to gain the upper hand in this battle for survival. To think that in the 1950s there were 3,000 Malayan tigers in our jungles. Now, only 500 remain. Their images proudly grace our national crest and yet we have allowed them to reach near extinction? This is just unacceptable! Please help us give them a fighting chance to regain their numbers.

2010 is the "Year of the Tiger" in the Chinese Zodiac. When the "Chinese Year of the Tiger" comes again in 12 years time, let us read about how our tigers gained a second chance, thanks to the foresight of all of us today. Please give us what you can. Take action today! Save our Malayan tigers. Make a tax-deductible contribution now to support WWF and our urgent conservation efforts.

For your invaluable support you will received a FREE, one-of-a-kind Tx2 shopping bag, PLUS four FREE issues of Green Heart, our exclusive quarterly magazine, full of updates and conservation stories-so you know exactly how your support is really making a difference!

Your support means everything to us. And even more to our friends in the wild.