Tiger Awareness
Founded in 1998, Tiger Awareness is a voluntary, non-profit charity that works in the UK, giving free talks to schools, the public, and other organisations and supporting at ground level in Sundarbans, Bandhavagarh, Ranthambhore and Dudhwa, supporting local NGOs, who give safety advice on living and working in forest areas.
Tiger Awareness is the brain-child of Phil Davis, who has loved tigers since he was a child. He says: “I’ve always thought the tiger was a beautiful, majestic animal, and from the mid-90s I ‘sponsored’ a tiger with another charity, but I was inspired into action about 15 years ago when I read an article about how few tigers were lift in the wild; it’s amazing to me that there are no more than 3,000 left in the wild but there are 5,000 in zoos across the United States.
“I travelled to India in 1999 to learn about work at ground level to increase awareness of the tigers’ plight and provide education on safety in the forests and surrounding villages. Tigers live in forests and enjoy long grass, which is high in the winter season, providing them with good camouflage for themselves and their cubs.
Tigers can live for up to 16 years in the wild and each tigress will bring up her cubs for two years before they go their separate ways. Tigers survive on a diet of meat, mainly chital deer, wild boar and samba deer, but they have been known to feed on cattle, often causing conflict between man and animal.
“I have travelled to India on numerous occasions to help and work with organisations at ground level. We give funds in person at ground level, buying the items locally, which helps the local economy. We have also supported organisation that give alternative ways to making a living, other than hunting, also part of that, is education for the younger generation, which also passes onto further generations.”
Tiger Awareness use their funds at ground level in the four main tiger areas of India. They help villagers with funds were they have cattle lifted by Tigers, outside National Parks; they have helped at schools who have been identified as conservation-minded; they help the forest guards with equipment that will enable them to do their job more effectively; and they support nature education, which encourages respect and understanding for wildlife in its natural habitat.
In recent years, Tiger Awareness has supplied communities in India with:
• mosquito nets, cycles and binoculars to forest guards in Ranthambhore
• bicycles in Buxa for the daily wage staff to help them move more easily around the forest
• stretchers to help the sick people in the remote hills in Buxa Duar
• sleeping bags
• binoculars for the forest guards so as to help them in their duty to protect the forest and its mammals
“We have recently funded six months mobile computer school in Ranthambhore area, as this is helpful in education, gaining employment and giving a vital understanding of nature and how we should help. We have also donated a computer to the forest department, for them to be able to collate Tiger information in the area,” Phil added.
The tiger is a critically endangered animal; there are approximately 1,300 – 1,500 left in the wild in India and a further 1,500 in Russia, Vietnam, Thailand, Sumatra and south China. Tiger numbers are dwindling for a number of reasons, including deforestation, man-animal conflict, poaching (tigers are being killed at the rate of one a day) and human consumption of tiger body parts in accordance with traditional Chinese medicinal beliefs.
Three sub-species of tiger have become extinct in the last 20 years; the Bali, Javan and Caspian no longer grace the forests of the world. UK charity, Tiger Awareness, is working here in the UK and in India to fight for the survival of the remaining five sub-species of tiger.
Tiger Awareness is always looking for more donations in order to continue their vital work. You can make a one-off donation, become a regular donator with monthly contributions or organise a fundraising event, such as bike ride.
