As the world celebrates International Tiger Day on July 29, let’s work towards protecting these majestic creatures in all their glory.
The tiger isn’t merely a charismatic species or simply another wild animal living in some faraway forest. It is an incomparable animal which plays a critical role in the health and diversity of an ecosystem. Unfortunately, if the tigers go extinct, the entire system would collapse and it will be a catastrophe for mankind.
Fortunately, India is home to more than 70% of the world’s tiger population and Nagpur is unofficially considered as the “Tiger Capital of India.” It is therefore unpardonable that at 23 tiger deaths, Maharashtra stood second only to Madhya Pradesh in tiger deaths nationwide last year. Luckily, its tiger population is steady with 86 in Tadoba National Park, Nagpur.
What is International Tiger Day?
This year marks the eighth Global Tiger Day. Established in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit, July 29th is dedicated to the worldwide awareness and support for tiger conservation. Less than a century ago, 1,00,000 tigers roamed the forests of Asia, but today less than 3,000 tigers survive in the wild.
Government goals
Union minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said the government has set a target of doubling the tiger population in the country, reports PTI. Speaking at an event in the run-up to ‘International Tiger Day’ on July 29, Vardhan said that if tigers are conserved, the country will then also be able to protect the environment and deal with environmental threats that exist in the world. Vardhan also said the Rajya Sabha that advanced strategies are being adopted to tackle the human-animal conflict and detailed advisories were being issued to the state governments.
Meanwhile, various corporate entities are focusing their CSR initiatives on saving India’s iconic cat.
Preserve What’s Precious
PWP (short for Preserve What’s Precious) is one such pioneering initiative (towards the long-term conservation of tigers) supported entirely by JetPrivilege and implemented by The Corbett Foundation (TCF) in the Central Indian Landscape – Bandhavgarh Sanjay Dubri Corridor. By going the extra mile, JetPrivilege not only focuses on the tiger species but also its habitat and its affiliation with the man. PWP project addresses the important issue of maintaining the tiger habitat connectivity by undertaking reforestation on over 90-hectares of degraded forest land.
Active Collaborations
Signpost India, a media company in Nagpur city, in active collaboration with the Forest and Revenue Department of Maharashtra, invited all major brands across India to lend support for the “Save the Tiger” initiative by allowing them to put up advertisements across various bus shelter locations in Nagpur. This campaign kick-started on 27th July and was free of cost for the participating brands.
State Bank of India is also a ‘zoo parent’. The bank on Tuesday adopted 15 tigers in the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad as part of the zoo’s Animal Adoption Programme.
‘Save Our Tigers’ is a CSR initiative by Aircel aimed towards environment and tiger conservation. Aircel has been working with several organizations, extending infrastructure and capacity support. The company has associated with tiger conservationists like Mike Pandey, Shekar Dattatri, Valmik Thapar, Bittu Sahgal and others to spread the message of ‘Save our Tigers’. Says Sankara Narayanan K, Head SBU 1 – Chennai and ROTN, Aircel, “We have been working diligently towards tiger conservation since 2008. We will plan more initiatives in the future as part of our campaign.”
