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Against All Odds

Alan Rabinowitz knows tough. As a young zoologist, the director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's science and exploration program would go anywhere to map the shrinking habitats of big animals. He endured disease, leech attacks and 500-mile hikes through pure jungle. Today, at 53, he still looks like he could wrestle a boa constrictoroand win.

But when it comes to saving wild animals, what really sets Rabinowitz apart is his patience. He has tirelessly worked with foreign governments to get them to set aside land to protect endangered speciesoespecially big cats, like jaguars and tigers. In 1984, he convinced the government of Belize, in Central America, to create the world's first jaguar preserve.

Into the Valley of Death

For more than a decade, Rabinowitz has pushed to save the dwindling tiger population in Burma (also known as Myanmar). The Southeast Asian country has one of the most oppressive military governments in the world. Last fall, it brutally cracked down on pro-democracy protesters.

In an effort to create a wildlife sanctuary, Rabinowitz met with everyone from generals to rebels. He hiked deep into the Hukawng Valley, a remote mountainous jungle on the border with India. In his new book for adults, Life in the Valley of Death, Rabinowitz makes clear how difficult it was to set up the haven for tigers.

Not only did Rabinowitz need help from Burma's leaders, but he also needed help from local people. Over years of meetings, he managed to convince many of them to stop hunting tigers and the wild game that is the animals' main food source.

"Animals and conservation can do more to bring together cultures and social classes than any (speeches), or aggressive actions between nations," he says.

Rabinowitz has been criticized for meeting with the generals who run the military government. But he says that their cooperation was the only way to ensure the Hukawng Valley Tiger Reserve would be protected.

Today, the reserve, which is about the size of Vermont, is almost complete. Rabinowitz hopes that over time, tiger numbers will strengthen and the sanctuary will be seen as a model for future conservation efforts.

Next: A Long-Awaited Apology