It’s time for Volya the tiger to open wide and say "ahhh" so experts can see how the 1½-year-old cub is recovering from surgery that saved her after she was shot in the head by poachers.
Volya is one of the most endangered animals on the planet — a Siberian tiger, huge cats that roam the snowy mountainous terrain of Russia’s Far East and northeast China.
Along with other endangered animals and plants, the tigers are part of a unique ecosystem that faces a new threat: a toxic benzene slick headed toward the Amur River after an explosion upriver at a chemical factory in China.
The World Wide Fund for Animals considers the area a "high-priority conservation region." It has expressed concern about the effects of the spill and called for stricter monitoring of chemicals.