 About Tiger Conservation: Tigers worldwide are facing major population losses & extinction. They are killed for sport, skins & body parts and their habitat is continuously being encroached by humans. The 1950s saw extinction of the Caspian tiger. The Bali and Java tiger are also extinct. The last Bali tiger was killed in 1937; the last Javan tiger was seen in 1972. The South China tiger (20-30 are remaining), is nearly extinct in the wild. India today has the largest number of tigers, the Royal Bengal, with between 1,300 to 1,400.
At the turn of the 20th century, there were reportedly almost 40,000 tigers in India but a variety of reasons have seen the number rapidly reduce. The Bengal tiger is poached for its body parts to cater to an illegal market, mainly in China for its supposed medicinal qualities. Very poor wages and job opportunities in the areas tigers live also lead to economic reasons for people poaching. Another reason for reducing numbers is habitat loss due to depletion of forest cover with logging and mining activities, interference of humans and encroachment of forest land by people which in turn forces the tiger to abandon his territory.
Project Tiger: These various pressures in the second half of the 20th century led to the progressive decline of wilderness resulting in the disturbance of viable tiger habitats. At the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) General Assembly meeting in Delhi in 1969, serious concern was voiced about the threat to several species of wildlife. In 1970, a national ban on tiger hunting was imposed in India and in 1972 the Wildlife Protection Act came into force. A task force was then set up to formulate a project for tiger conservation with an ecological approach. One member of this task force was Anne Wright whose daughter Belinda Wright continues to be an outspoken tiger conservationist.
The project was launched in 1973, and various tiger reserves were created in the country based on a 'core-buffer' strategy.  The core areas were freed from all sorts of human activities and the buffer areas were subjected to 'conservation oriented land use'. Management plans were drawn up for each tiger reserve.
With the Tiger population continuing to dwindle, there is so much work to be done and the resources are never enough. This is why we are teaming up with a local conservation society to help them in just one area of one of the Project Tiger Reserves in the hope that we can at least help to keep the tigers in ‘our’ area safe from harm.
Need more Information?
Ask our Programme Advisor.
Prefer to talk? Call us on:
08000 32 33 50
Teach and Care for Children
2 months onwards, Kolkata
Teach Children English,
Math, Music or Art
2 months onwards, Chennai
Teach at Schools
for Slum Children
3 months onward, Bangalore
Teach Children from Slums
2 months onwards, Pune
Assist with English and
other activities
2 months onwards, Chennai
Teach and Assist in a School
for the poor
2 months onwards, New Delhi
Help Slum Children into
Education
2 months onwards, Chennai
Teach at an Inspiring Orphanage
3 months onwards, Chennai
Assist with Teaching or
Vocational Training
1 month onward, New Delhi
Teaching Assistant at a Centre
for Street Children
1 month onward, Kolkata
Volunteer At Childrens
Rehabilitation Centre
1 month onward, Kolkata
Help Teach English
To Slum Children
1 month onward, Kolkata
|