Save Tiger campaign helps create awareness among kids

Wildlife conservationists are organising campaigns to spread awareness about the dwindling population of the tigers among kids.

Siliguri/Bhopal, Oct 14 : Wildlife conservationists are organising campaigns to spread awareness about the dwindling population of the tigers among kids.

One such awareness campaign was held on Saturday in the northern town of West Bengal.

Children of several schools attended the workshop in Siliguri under a programme called "Kids for Tigers".

Navnita, the coordinator of the 'Kids for Tigers' programme, said their aim is to motivate children in doing their bit to save tigers.

"We want to inform students. Then we want to educate students and motivate them towards tiger conservation. We tell them that if we want to save tigers, we have to save forests first," she said.

The action-based environmental education programme aims at seeking the participation of the younger generation to save the wild animals, which are dependent on the preservation of diverse natural resources.

Welcoming the awareness programme, Sunita Ghatak, Divisional Forest Officer, Wild Division, Darjeeling, said: "Definitely, this sort of awareness programme is welcome. It is definitely important. But not only the town-based schools, we should also concentrate on rural schools."

India has half the world's surviving tigers. But the demand for tiger skin and bone in China for making traditional medicines has severely affected the tiger population.

Meanwhile, India's dwindling tiger population further declined as a white tiger died in Van Vihar National Park in Bhopal.

The authorities are investigating the death of Ishu, a male white tiger.

According to the preliminary reports, the three-year-old, Ishu died, on Friday, due to a liver disease. The tiger was suffering from fever and initial investigations revealed ruptures in the liver.

The count of white tigers has come down to three after Ishu's death leaving the national park with only female tigers.

Samples of all visceral organs of Ishu are being sent for toxicology assessment to the laboratories in the State, said Jasbeer Singh Chauhan, the Director of the Van Vihar National Park, Bhopal.

"We will not be able to fill the void that has been created with the death of Ishu, the only male tiger we had. Now, we have three female tigers here. Ishu was a very friendly and playful animal. The exact cause of the tiger's death is yet to be ascertained," said Chauhan.

Three months ago a 20-year-old Royal Bengal tiger had died at the park after a short sickness. Also, in 2006, another white tiger died in the same park following indigestion and fever.

According to official estimates, there are 3,600 tigers in India, but some wildlife experts say the figure could be less than 2,000.

The Indian Tiger Welfare Society says that only 12 white tigers have been seen in the wild in India while the rest are in captivity.

There are around 200 white tigers left in the world.

ANI