Help Save Endangered Tigers in India

A 2014 report revealed that there are now 2,226 tigers in India, up from 1,706 in 2011.[1] In fact, overall there is an increase of tiger populations in the wild—there are now 3,890 tigers as opposed to 3,200 in 2010.[2] Conservation efforts are working, but we still have lots of work to do. Follow the steps in this guide to help keep India’s tigers alive.

Steps

Supporting Conservation in India

  1. Send donations. Whether you live in India or not, sending money to organizations that care for and protect tigers in India helps more than you know. The money will be used to ensure that tigers are looked after and can be kept in areas where there would otherwise be population encroachment.
    • It costs about $15 million a year to properly protect tigers in India.[3]
    • World Wildlife India (WWF-India) is an organization committed to saving tigers in India, where they work to help tigers and humans peacefully coexist, educate local communities about the importance of conservation, and perform many more efforts.[4]
    • Other conservation organizations in India that you can contribute to include Tiger Awareness,[5] a UK charity that supports Indian tigers, and the Wildlife Protection Society of India.[6]
  2. Join internet-based groups. You can make a difference no matter where you are in the world, especially now that the internet is accessible by so many--even from inside India. Join groups on social media websites like Facebook to show your activism in support of saving the tigers in India.
    • In Facebook, do a search for “tiger conservation India” (or something similar) in the website’s search bar. Make sure you click the “groups” tab underneath the search bar. Once on a group page, click “Join Group,” and depending on the privacy settings, you will either be added instantly or must wait until a group admin approves your membership.[7]
    • Do a search with a search engine like Google using keywords like “save the tigers India internet groups,” and you will find links to many different organizations that you can join, although most of them are general tiger conservation groups and are not specific to the tigers in India.
  3. Start your own group on social media. There aren’t a lot of conservation groups on Facebook targeted toward the tigers just in India. If you know a few people in your area—or even just on the internet—who want to save the tigers in India as much as you do, consider starting your own Facebook group. This way you can control what the group does and how members communicate with each other.
  4. Join or start a group in your community. If you want to be more involved than just from your computer, you can join a local tiger conservation group in your community and encourage them to focus on the tigers in Indian habitats. If there aren’t any, you can start one yourself.
    • Book a room at a community center for a certain time of week, then post flyers in the community, such as on bulletin boards in local grocery stores, at the community center itself, at the local library, and on other community boards you see around town.
    • If you’re a college student, you may be able to start a group on campus if there isn’t one to join already. Do the same as if you were starting a group in a local community—book a room and post flyers.
    • No matter where your group meets, get the word out about your conservation group by posting it on social media as well as flyers.

Assisting Indian Communities

  1. Send money to educators in India. Supporting organizations that care for the education, health, and welfare of Indian children will help the next generation desire to save its tigers. Education helps to break the cycle of poverty by giving Indian children a chance to get employment in fields that pay adequate living salaries. You can do this wether you live in India or abroad.
    • Most of the same organizations listed in Method 1 perform some sort of education work to keep the next generation of Indian citizens motivated to care about their tigers. For example, WWF-India hosts awareness programs specially designed for schoolchildren, in schools located both near tiger reserves and in cities.[8]
  2. Send money to relief organizations. Poverty is a major cause of dwindling tiger populations in India. The problems the tiger faces are those of ignorance and poverty: people in surrounding villages are living hand to mouth, and many give in to the temptation to make money by supplying tigers to the black market.
    • There is a market for tiger organs to be used in Chinese folk medicine. For example, tiger brain is used to treat pimples and laziness.[9] There has been a rise in Asian upper class affluence, a class that can afford the expensive Chinese medicinal treatments. As this class has grown in size, so has the demand for tiger organs. The Environmental Investigation Agency believes one tiger is killed each day for its use in Chinese medicine.[10]
    • You can help relieve Indian poverty through organizations like the India Village Poverty Relief Fund, which starts social justice projects for villages in India.[11]
    • If you already live in India, you can find local poverty relief organizations like churches and give money to assist their efforts.
  3. Offer to go yourself. If you live in India, it is easy to find organizations that you can volunteer with to help relieve poverty or educate those who live near tigers. If you don't already live in India, there are opportunities for people to go teach and do relief work there. You can join these relief organizations and do work as a volunteer to help relieve poverty, sickness, and any number of other issues. Your work will help the impoverished in India to feel less pressure to get a quick buck through tiger poaching.
    • You can join the medical relief efforts of Foundation for International Medical Relief for Children.[12]
    • You can join Sankalp Volunteer and choose from a variety of projects.[13]
    • If you work for a corporation in India, you can encourage your executives to partner with WWF-India through their corporate partnerships program.[14]
    • Perform a search in Google to find other volunteer opportunities in India, whether you already live there or not.

Preventing Wildlife Damage in India

  1. Be a responsible tourist. Follow conservation practices when you go on tourism trips in India, especially in relation to the forest habitat of tigers. This is true for both local and international tourists. Don’t take vegetation out of the forests and don’t use destructive vehicles to get around inside them.
    • Instead, if you’re booking safari trip in India, make sure the company you purchase a package with actively supports tiger conservation. If you don’t see it on the packaging or website, ask about it.
  2. Refuse to buy Chinese medicine with tiger parts. If you use Chinese medicine, you are probably consuming tiger parts. Unless a product you’ve purchased says it is an herbal remedy, a Chinese medicine product probably has tiger parts in it, depending on what it’s for. Switch over to herbal medicines so that you aren’t part of the problem.
    • For example, tiger bones are used in Chinese medicine to treat a host of aches and pains. An herbal alternative to, say, a headache, is spring onion tea or wild ginger.[15]
  3. Inform wildlife conservers of poaching activity. If you ever hear a rumor of poaching activity in India, whether in your community or while doing any relief work, report it to wildlife conservers or the authorities immediately.
    • You might hear a poaching rumor if you are working as a volunteer in an Indian village.
  4. Reduce your purchase of wood products. Since the tiger’s habitat is in the forest, consumer purchase of lumber and paper products places pressure on it.[16] Try to find avoid purchasing wood products made or sourced in India if you live abroad, and find alternative materials for these items if you live in India.
    • The next time you purchase a ream of paper or a piece of wooden furniture, ask the manufacturer the source of their wood before purchasing.



Tips

  • Consider hosting fundraisers every few months to support the different organizations that need money to conserve tigers in India.
  • When trying to recruit people to your cause of conserving Indian tigers, be kind and personable. If people resist you, don’t push yourself. You will lose support rather than gain it if you lose your temper.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Indias-tiger-population-increases-by-30-in-past-three-years-country-now-has-2226-tigers/articleshow/45950634.cms
  2. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/12/world/asia/wild-tiger-numbers-are-rising-wildlife-groups-say.html?_r=0
  3. ↑ http://www.tigersincrisis.com/habitat_protection.htm
  4. ↑ http://www.wwfindia.org/about_wwf/priority_species/bengal_tiger/work_for_tiger
  5. ↑ http://www.tigerawareness.co.uk/about-us/
  6. ↑ http://www.wpsi-india.org/donations/index.php
  7. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/help/103763583048280
  8. ↑ http://www.wwfindia.org/about_wwf/priority_species/bengal_tiger/work_for_tiger/
  9. ↑ http://www.tigersincrisis.com/traditional_medicine.htm
  10. ↑ http://www.tigersincrisis.com/trade_tigers.htm
  11. ↑ http://www.indiavillagefund.org
  12. ↑ http://www.fimrc.org/india/volunteer/
  13. ↑ http://www.volunteersindia.org
  14. ↑ http://www.wwfindia.org/about_wwf/enablers/corporate_partnerships/
  15. ↑ http://www.tigersincrisis.com/alternative_medicines.htm
  16. ↑ http://www.wwfindia.org/about_wwf/priority_species/bengal_tiger/what_you_can_do/
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