This year, Sanctuary Asia in conjunction with local partners held a multitude of events across the country to commemorate the occasion.
Corbett Tiger Reserve
In association with Sanctuary Asia, The Corbett Foundation celebrated Global Tiger Day along with a conservation organization called Pawalgarh Prakriti Prahari, at the Ramnagar Forest Division. The Divisional Forest Officer of Ramnagar Forest Division, Ms. Kahkashan Naseem, inaugurated the event, which included a workshop. 70 people participated in the workshop that included interactive sessions to discuss tiger conservation and associated issues.
140th birth anniversary of Jim Corbett was also celebrated at Chhoti Haldwani in Uttarakhand, and 101 solar lanterns were distributed to the villagers in commemoration of the event.
Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve
Sanctuary Asia and The Corbett Foundation, Bandhavgarh, collaborated to organise various programmes in schools and colleges to celebrate Global Tiger Day. The awareness team organized skits, essay and poem writing competition, and a painting competition on the theme of tiger conservation. An educational talk on ways in which students and teachers can contribute to tiger conservation was also an important part of the day's events.
Kanha Tiger Reserve
The Corbett Foundation (TCF), Kanha and Sanctuary Asia celebrated Global tiger day with the students of Katangi Middle School located in the buffer zone of Kanha Tiger Reserve. Fifty students participated in an interactive game called ‘Food Web', which aimed to further their understanding on the connectivity of nature. TCF Programme Officer.
Ms. Asha Verma gave the students a detailed explanation of the elements belonging to a food chain, along with explaining the importance of every species. TCF conducted the same exercise in another school, which allowed for an overall of 100 students around Kanha Tiger Reserve to be engaged in wildlife awareness activities.
Kaziranga National Park
To celebrate Global Tiger Day, The Corbett Foundation (TCF), Kaziranga supported by the Rare Species Fund (RSF), gifted a series of eight Tongisor watchtowers made from bamboo, to villagers living on the outskirts of Kaziranga National Park. TCF and RSF are in the process of giving 20 tongis, which can accommodate four people each, to the villagers. The villagers are also being trained to use camera traps, which they can attach on to their Tongis, and can be used them to track tiger movement along the periphery of the park.
Srinagar, Kashmir
Wildlife Conservation Fund (WCF) in collaboration with Sanctuary Asia organized Global Tiger Day at S.P College, Srinagar. The event was supported by news network NDTV, and was attended by the environmental science and zoology students of SP College, Srinagar, among other distinguished guests.
Nadeem Qadri, environmental lawyer and Executive Director, WCF, initiated the day's events by discussing the importance of celebrating Global Tiger Day. Chairman of WCF, Mohammad Shafi Bacha, also made a presentation to enlighten the students regarding the importance of wildlife conservation, by presenting a detailed year-wise census of hangul populations between 1970 and 2015.
The guest of honour, Dr. G. A. Bhat, had a lively interaction with the students of S.P College, and was very impressed by the enthusiasm that the students showed. Dr. Bhat also shared with the students, his knowledge about wildlife, ecology, and the environment.
Sanctuary Asia then proceeded to present their Kids for Tigers campaign to the students and guests. WCF selected ten Green Ambassadors amongst the students, who were then given appreciation certificates signed by Bittu Sahgal, Editor, Sanctuary Asia.
The Global Tiger Day celebrations concluded with an interactive question and answer session, with both students and experts sharing their views on hangul and tiger conservation.
Dudhwa Tiger Reserve
Vision Dudhwa's camp at Dudhwa Tiger Reserve celebrated the 5th Global Tiger Day with a large number of children and team members. They commenced the celebration with a rally that covered the entire village area in order to raise awareness for tiger conservation. The villagers seemed quite enthused during the rally as the children distributed handouts and writing material to the local residents of the area.
With the intention to encourage a new generation of conservationists, all the children who participated were praised for their efforts by being honoured with medals and a memento each. The celebration of Global Tiger Day also included the inauguration of a library dedicated to the environment, a nature walk, and a quiz competition.
The day's events were concluded with a candle march, during which the children took an oath to be guardians of wildlife. They wrapped up Global Tiger Day by screening a documentary called The Truth about Tiger for the children.
The children were especially excited to learn about the Kids for Tigers campaign and were eager to gain a more in depth understanding of wildlife conservation.
Pune, Maharashtra
Facilitated by Sanctuary Asia, the Western Routes and Foglight Frames organized a special screening of the documentary ‘Tigress Blood'.
More than 45 people attended the screening that was followed by a discussion about Tadoba, tigers and the threat the national animal poses today. AdwaitKeole, a research assistant with the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) also made a presentation about WCT projects in forests outside Protected Areas of Central India.
