Students Organize to Save Wild Tigers

To raise awareness about the increasingly endangered tiger population, the NCS-founded Youth for Conservation Forum (YFCF) is holding a “March to Save Wild Tigers” on Saturday, May 28, from 11:00 am-2:00 pm at the National Zoo. Open to all, the march will take place with signs and fliers; YFCF leaders will speak about tiger conservation, and tiger-themed items will be sold to raise funds for the cause. Click here for more information.

The YFCF was founded by NCS students in February 2010 in collaboration with the Global Tiger Initiative, an international alliance of the tiger-range countries and international organizations dedicated to saving wild tigers from extinction. Since then, WFCF has gained members at Georgetown Day School and also influenced young leaders abroad to join the cause.

Earlier this year YFCF members, accompanied by Social Sciences Teacher Andrew Riely, met with Mr. Chatterji, a Council member of the World Bank’s Global Environmental Facility (GEF), who oversees the environmental projects in several tiger-range countries, including India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. The purpose of the meeting was to learn about the Global Tiger Recovery Program (GTRP), whose goal is to double the wild tiger population by the year 2022, to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that are influencing the endangerment of tigers, and to explore opportunities for YFCF to engage and partner with schools and other youth programs around the world, in support of the World Bank’s efforts.

Mr. Chatterji brought the poachers’ mindset to life for us and detailed the irreversible environmental and human-caused changes that are diminishing tiger populations. He also outlined some of the World Bank’s initiatives, including: tiger re-location; community development programs aimed at reducing the human-tiger conflict; and, the central role that the World Bank intends to play in bringing all of the “tiger range countries” together to form a collective strategy and enforcement against the international poaching of tigers. Mr. Chatterji pointed out the extreme importance of involving the young generation in global environmental efforts

YFCF’s latest effort was an education session at the GEF’s “take your daughters and sons to work” day. YFCF presented a video and slide presentation about tigers and talked about worldwide tiger conservation efforts. The kids then took a “Tiger Trivia” quiz and were invited to have their faces painted with stripes. YFCF members then led a tiger “roar," and watched as these newly-recruited “cub members” went out into the world with their tiger balloons billowing high.

Some facts about tigers appear below. We hope you’ll join us for the March to Save Wild Tigers on May 28.–Stephanie Leontiev ‘12 and Nora Loughlin '12

TIGER FACTS
• Fifty years ago, the tiger population in India alone was estimated at 50,000. Today, tigers number less than 3,200 globally.

• While tiger poaching is illegal in India, China is considering lifting its ban on tiger poaching.

• Tigers are solitary animals. Once mature, they leave their mother and stake out their own, individual territory. They have very little social interaction, unlike other big cats, such as lions, which live in groups, or prides.

• The primary reason for the decrease in the tiger population is the increase in the human population.

• The Indian tiger requires 100 square miles of territory to flourish.

• Urbanization and deforestation have cut off tiger pathways between forested areas causing shrinkage of the gene pool, weakening the health of the tiger population.

• The consumption of tiger parts is another danger to the species. Every part of the tiger is consumed.

• Poachers can make $5 million from the sale of an individual tiger.

• Poachers often work in international cartels, which complicates their arrest and capture.