It all begins with sounds of birds and insects in the jungle, the perfect environment. Stripey, the two-month-old cub jumps out of the bushes. A mild husky voice of a female breaks the background. The scared and hungry cub roams around all alone waiting for his mother to come. Then goes the sound of a bullet fired from a gun. The advertisement ends here with the sentence: “There are just 1,411 tigers left”. Yes, this is the latest ad by ‘Save Our Tigers', a social campaign and an initiative by AirCel and WWF.
A website, www.saveourtigers.com has been launched with a concern over the decreasing population of tigers in India. It is said that there were 40,000 tigers by the last century. And, now the Wildlife Institute of India, in association with National Tiger Conservation Authority, India, has an average estimation that there are only 1,411 wild tigers left in India. A hard to digest fact. We, the humans, are to blame. It is a shame that we are about to lose our pride, the National Animal. The 17 tiger sanctuaries out of 37 in India are almost under threat. The Save Our Tigers team wants to spread the message and create the awareness. All that is needed is people should realise the current situation. Poaching and hunting have been the main reason behind the decrease in number. Deforestation is another reason. All major causes are only by human intervention. Just for the skin, fur, bone and other products we have lost the life of many tigers. The tiger can be saved only with the support of each and every citizen. Everyone can pledge their support and join the roar in the website. This initiative is all on web. Even in YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Digg and StumbleUpon.
Famous personalities, football player Baichung Bhutia, cricket player Mahendra Singh Dhoni and actor Surya have shown their support. A blog has been created under the name Stripey the Cub. The website offers suggestions and ideas for the common citizen to show and share your concern over the issue. You can even donate to the NGOs working on tiger conservation through the website. Or, even volunteer to spend some valuable time with the NGOs.
The website also gives information on tiger reserves in India and some latest news related to tigers. The blog is where many web surfers have shown interest. Many comments have been left. Shariq Parvez, a freelance journalist and social activist from Uttar Pradesh tells a lot about forest and the tigers in Pilibhit district, UP. A user named Karunanidhi Bhargav mentions that he sends 50 SMS a day for the cause. Another user Sivanesan Sadasivam says “I can't imagine a Nation without its National Animal, So I ‘am gonna work to protect tigers.” A very sensible statement, isn't it?
We may not have saved Stripey's mother. But, let's work on to save Stripey and its future.
