Documentary on Tasmanian tigers

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya: The United States' CNN television network is interested in making a documentary film on Tasmanian tigers living in the snow-covered peak of Puncak Jaya here, a local official said Wednesday.

The provincial conservation office's chief, Herman Prayitno, told Antara that CNN had already submitted its proposal to the World Wide Fund's (WWF) regional office in Irian Jaya.

He said the popularity of Tasmanian tigers, now facing extinction, was partly due to local media reports.

WWF researcher Richard Kalelago made the first scientific report on the animals' existence by studying their footprints.

But the kidnapping of Lorentz expedition team members by separatist rebels in 1995 has discouraged further research on the Tasmanian tigers.