NDTV and Sanctuary Asia Magazine have come together to sponsor a campaign to raise awareness about the declining numbers of Tigers in India. They want to get a million signatures on a petition that will be sent to the Indian Government. The campaign, which began two weeks ago, is getting a tremendous response.
Many Bollywood stars including: Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, John Abraham, Kajol, Kareena Kapoor, Preity Zinta and Farhan Akhtar are in full support of this campaign.
NDTV’s environment and wildlife correspondent, Swati Thyagaragan said, “Today, there are approximately only 1400 tigers left in Indian forests. It is extremely critical to create enough public support and awareness to be able to turn this campaign into a powerful movement. I am confident our campaign will gain enough momentum to force the government to take greater responsibility to save the tiger from the brink of extinction.” In a 2002 census there were more than double the number of tigers in existence compared to a month ago.
According to a press release, “The campaign urges the Prime Minister to hold an emergency meeting of the National Board for Wildlife to consider the threat to the tiger; Chief ministers of every State to establish a protection force for tigers; upgradation of forest guards to the level of police with better compensation; and setting up of an improved intelligence network that is critical to crack poaching.”
NDTV is going to have the petition available for signing at a special event. The ‘INDIA SIGNS ON TO SAVE THE TIGER’ event will be held at India Gate in Delhi on March 9th. NDTV is also conducting SMS polls and online petitions to reach out to as many people as possible (log onto http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/savetiger/sthome.aspx to sign the online petition).
