At a function at Abu Dhabi on June 1, Hemendra Kothari, founder of WCT, along with four others, made a financial commitment to contribute $2m each every year for the next 10 years.

The donors announced the 10-year funding effort, a partnership with New York-based wildcat conservation organization Panthera, following a private signing ceremony in Abu Dhabi.

"Having led by example in tiger conservation in the Indian landscape, it is heartening for the WCT to be part of a truly unique international coalition that shares both our passion and commitment to the big cats - along with the determination to save them," said Kothari in a news statement.

Panthera's founder and chairman, Thomas Kaplan, described crown prince Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as "a catalyst" for accelerating the wider funding effort that he hopes will attract more donors from around the world. Other backers are Jho Low, CEO of Hong Kong-based investment firm Jynwel Capital, and Kaplan and his wife Daphne Recanati Kaplan.

"This is a truly multinational advance. And we hope it serves to be a template for wildlife conservation," Kaplan said.

"We hope it's just the beginning. Each person or family is committing $20 million over a decade," he added.

The funds will go toward Panthera's aim of helping to conserve 38 species of wildcats through projects such as anti-poaching efforts and occasional land purchases to create safe corridors for the animals in tiger bearing countries. Some will be allocated for existing programs, while others will contribute to new initiatives.

"For conservation to be effective, it's got to scale up," Panthera CEO and cat expert Alan Rabinowitz said. "That takes funding."

The crown prince plays a significant role in the day-to-day running of the United Arab Emirates, a seven-state federation and OPEC member that includes Dubai.

The crown prince's contribution to the funding effort will be managed through a conservation fund he set up in 2009 that awards grants primarily to small conservation projects in the developing world. Unlike some rich Emiratis and other Gulf Arabs, he does not keep captive big cats of his own, said the fund's director-general, Frederic Launay.

Panthera was created in 2006 to focus on conserving wildcats, in particular tigers, lions, jaguars, snow leopards, cheetahs, cougars and leopards.

The guaranteed 10-year commitment to cat conservation - an undertaking unprecedented in its scale and scope - will immediately fund the most effective solutions for conserving big cats and mitigating their primary threats: poaching for local and international trade; retaliatory and punitive killing from conflict with humans; unsustainable hunting of prey; and the loss and fragmentation of habitat.

"As the animals at the top of the food chain, these cats help maintain the delicate balance of the ecosystem in which they live and upon which humans depend, and serve as the flagship species for conserving large, wild landscapes," Kothari said.