Australian girl donates inheritance to save tigers

A six-year-old Australian girl has donated her inheritance from her grandparents to a wildlife programme to save tigers.

According to officials, it is believed Canberra-resident Audrey Joyce's donation was in thousands of dollars but the amount will remain undisclosed, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.

After making her donation, Joyce was granted the naming rights of the new 11-week-old cub in Queensland's Australia Zoo which she chose to name "Reggie".

The young Australian became a "Wildlife Warrior" after she said she gave her money to the wildlife conservation programme, which is aimed at protecting endangered species.

"They (poachers) want their faces, skin and their bodies to make money from them," Joyce told the Australian Associated Press (AAP) on Monday.

It seems there was a secondary reason for Joyce's generosity: "I was born in the Year of the Tiger."

The newly named tiger cub, Reggie, is the third Sumatran tiger arrival this year, taking the Australian zoo's tiger population to 14.

The cub's parents are from the first Sumatran tigers to be released from Indonesia in more than 30 years.

--IANS

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