International Tiger Day
Global Tiger Day, often called International Tiger Day is an annual celebration to raise awareness for tiger conservation. It is held annually on 29 July. International Tiger Day was created in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit. The goal of the day is to promote a global system for protecting the natural habitats of tigers and to raise public awareness and support for tiger conservation issues.
The seventh annual Global Tiger Day was celebrated in various ways around the world. Local events have been organized in India, Nepal & Bangladesh as well as non-tiger-range countries such as England and the United States.
Some celebrities also participated by removing their social media profile photos. WWF continued its promotion of the “Double Tigers” campaign through investing in rangers. Several companies partnered with WWF to help raise awareness.
INDIA
As the country where more than half of the world’s wild tigers are at now, Global Tiger Day is always a huge event! WWF-India coordinated 7 different events held in 7 key tiger landscapes this year.
Celebrations in Manas National Park at the North Bank landscape was a day-long event that Saturday, pointing to the important conservation being done in Manas by WWF-India and others while veterans rangers speaking with emotion about their park experiences.
A very important announcement was made amidst these celebrations too.
Lansdowne Forest Division in Uttarakhand is officially CA|TS Approved! Ever since it committed to achieving the global standards in tiger conservation set by the CA|TS accreditation scheme, Lansdowne has gone through rounds of checks to ensure it ticked all boxes to be considered a safe haven for tigers.
MALAYSIA
Malaysia announced the registration of Royal Belum State Park under CA|TS, Conservation Assured Tiger Standards, for effective management of endangered tigers as part of its vision towards zero poaching by 2020. Malaysia is now the first country in Southeast Asia to register for CA|TS, redoubling its commitment to double wild tigers by 2022.
The state of Perak announced this happy news on Global Tiger Day, where an awareness carnival was held for the public in Ipoh. This event was held together with WWF-Malaysia’s tiger conservation partner, Maybank Foundation. Activities held included a friendly futsal match between tiger conservation stakeholder agencies, a live interactive tiger conservation exhibition, games for children and lots of food. The event saw a huge turnout of the public and Maybank staff.
At Publika, Kuala Lumpur, the first year of WWF and Tiger Beer’s partnership culminated in a creative showcase where 20 renowned artists gathered to create tiger-inspired art pieces signifying the estimated 250 Malayan tigers left in the wild. There was also a silent auction for selected art pieces on display and proceeds from the auction were channeled to our conservation efforts.
CAMBODIA
WWF’s partnership with Tiger Beer saw a pop-up awareness event at Cambodia’s largest mall, Aeon Mall, to raise awareness on Asia’s snaring crisis. This critical message was delivered with the support of popular local singers and emphasized the importance of protecting prey species in the Eastern Plains with the possibility that wild tigers may return to the forests in the future.
THAILAND
Global Tiger Day in Thailand gave resolution to future tiger conservation with the signing of MoU on the conservation of tigers in Dong Phaya Yen – Khao Yai forests by The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP).
CHINA
A celebratory event in Jilin province involving government officials, rangers, and youths showed the rest of the country that tiger conservation is a collective responsibility.
Earlier this month, the State Council has made major news by declaring the Heilongjiang Qixinglazi Amur Tiger National Nature Reserve opened on July 12, 2017.
BHUTAN
A short film series by filmmaker Emmanuel Rondeau takes us through the landscapes of Bhutan in search of wild tigers. The adventure was a success with the capture of the first high-res photo of a tiger – at 11742 ft high and will be used to advocate for the protection of wildlife corridors the tigers were photographed at.
Bhutan’s Global Tiger Day event was held at the Royal Takin Preserve in Thimphu with the theme ‘Conserving prey base for tiger preservation’. The event included the formal inaugural of the Preserve office including open viewing deck and a pamphlet inviting membership on Friends of Bhutan Takin to support the preserve.
“Tiger is a top predator and ensuring their survival depends on a well-established prey-base. For the survival of the endangered cat, it requires the species it preys on to prosper in a shared habitat,” said officials of Bhutan’s nature conservation division.
The event was graced by the Speaker of the National Assembly Tshogpon Jigme Zangpo, Minister for Agriculture and Forests and senior government officers. The event called on the Bhutanese community to support tiger conservation given the tangible benefits it brings to human society by being the guardians of our forest ecosystem.
BANGLADESH
Great news in Bangladesh! The government announces a doubling of the size of its protected mangrove wildlife sanctuary, in a bid to protect its endangered Bengal tigers.
HONG KONG
Hong Kong proves that anyone can be a tiger protector – from six-year-olds to grandmothers to celebrities! WWF-Hong Kong kickstarted the “Be a Tiger Ranger” roadshow on Global Tiger Day, inviting the public to share their passion for protecting these big cats with the world through VR film experiences, hand painting activities and more!
POLAND
13 Polish influencers and celebrities shared photos of them with WWF tiger plushies to stress the situation of tigers and call for the public to support the Tx2 campaign to double the number of wild tigers. Tigers were put on a spotlight by social media on the 29th July.
UK
Our colleagues braved the mud at a family friendly 3-day music festival, Kendal Calling, to talk to the excited crowd about their iProtectTiger campaign.
Their films which introduced tiger protectors in different countries were screened for the festival-goers to inspire people to take action for wild tigers, wherever they are.
Meanwhile, the UK team also took over the MBNA Thames Clipper boats in London to encourage people to support wild tigers as they travel across the famous River Thames in London.
The same #iProtectTigers films are shown across the country on outdoor screens as well as in cinemas during July.
Finally, WWF is also invited to the National Cardiff Museum’s new tiger exhibition to talk about WWF’s work and tiger conservation. The team took their tiger Virtual Reality (VR) experience along, which went down a storm.
The tiger is the largest of the world’s big cats and this magnificent creature, with its distinctive orange and black stripes and beautifully marked face, has a day that is dedicated to it. This was first celebrated in 2010 and was founded at an international summit that had been called in response to the shocking news that 97% of all wild tigers had disappeared in the last century, with only around 3,000 left alive.
Tigers are on the edge of extinction and International World Tiger Day aims to bring attention to this fact and try to halt their decline. Many factors have caused their numbers to fall, including habitat loss, climate change, hunting, and poaching.
International Tiger Day aims to protect and expand their habitats and raise awareness of the need for conservation. Many international organizations are involved in the day, including the WWF, the IFAW and the Smithsonian Institute.
