Scientists say great numbers of Siberian Tigers used to hunt in the area between the three countries. Now it's estimated that only 20 Siberian Tigers are living in the wild. Spotting a tiger, even catching sight of a tiger's footprints is news.

But experts are hoping all that will change with the new tri-country project to save the tiger. China, Russia and the DPRK have agreed to mark off more than three hundred thousand hectares near their borders for two tiger nature reserves.

The reserves will provide a safe place for tigers to mate without fear of poachers and will restore the tigers' habitat, depleted after years of logging.

Scientists are anxious to get the project rolling to keep alive more than six hundred Siberian Tigers now living in captivity. Three fourths of them are ailing, partly because of inbreeding.

Experts say over the next few years, they will train the tigers to survive on their own. Then, in five years, they will release the first group of Siberian Tigers back into the wild.