The frightening rate of decline in tiger population presents a cause for concern. According to official estimates, there may be fewer than 1,500 left.
Youth for Conservation (YFC), has taken up a campaign to safeguard the national animal. In association with Wildlife Conservation Society, a YFC team led by its Executive Director, 22-year-old K. Ramnath Chandrasekhar, will be carrying out an awareness campaign free of cost on ‘tiger conservation' in educational institutions in Thanjavur and Tiruchi districts during November, similar to the one conducted during February 2011 that reached about 7,000 students (visit http://bit.ly/oWqecl for testimonials). The campaign will be conducted in Thanjavur from November 8 to 11 and in Tiruchi from November 12 to 18.
The programme will revolve around ‘The Truth About Tigers', a documentary film by Shekar Dattatri, an internationally acclaimed wildlife and conservation filmmaker, to analyse the reasons for the decline in their population and understanding the solution wherein citizens can make useful contributions.
Educational institutions are expected to convey their willingness and preferred date and timing for hosting the two-hour campaign that will start with the documentary of 40-minute duration, and followed by a question and answer session, and a tiger quiz based on the film. A teacher has to be nominated to coordinate with the YFC team. Prizes will be awarded to quiz winners, and participating institutions will receive a framed tiger poster signed by the filmmaker.
The film combines stunning footage shot by some of the world's leading cinematographers with deep insights by renowned tiger biologist Dr. Ullas Karanth of Wildlife Conservation Society, and wildlife crime fighter Belinda Wright of the Wildlife Protection Society of India. Starting his career as a naturalist and wildlife photographer at the age of 13 , Mr.Ramnath has been documenting India's natural history since then. He was a semi-finalist at the coveted BBC wildlife photographer of the year in 2006. Under Mr. Shekar Dattatri's guidance, Mr.Ramnath co-founded YFC. In 2010, he was short-listed for the prestigious Rolex Young Laureates Programme. Recently, he won Sanctuary Asia's Young Naturalist Award 2011.
Mr.Ramnath could be contacted through email (ram@yyfc.in) or phone (+91 98400 63381).
