When I first heard that there are only 3,200 wild tigers left on this planet, I could not believe it. How did this happen? When my good friend David Shepherd CBE was born 80 years ago, there were 100,000 wild tigers. In one lifetime, their numbers are now so low that if we don't physically protect them, we will be the last generation to see them. Our children and nieces and nephews will be watching footage of wild tigers in history programmes.
They have been shot, trapped, poisoned, and poached to the point of extinction, and mostly for use in ancient medicines that really don't work. They even make wine out of tiger bones. (I would have thought that there are enough grapes in the world). Their skins are sold as trophies, and even used in uniforms and clothing.
This has to stop. I cannot imagine a world where wild tigers are extinct because of human greed and ignorance, because everyone was too busy to save them.
There are many governments and non-governmental organisations working hard on keeping corridors open for the wild tiger, but the poachers are still winning, and killing four tigers a week.
What can we do to stop this, I hear you ask? Well, we need to physically protect the wild tiger. There are trained anti-poaching patrols on the ground right now. Some of them are only equipped with bicycles, and binoculars. These brave people need more equipment to enable them to succeed. They need walkie talkies and mobile phones, Jeeps, trained dogs, tents, and a host of other equipment for them to succeed. We also need to employ and train more local people to do this vital work.
At TigerTime, we are asking people to give us their names, sign up to our cause to physically protect the wild tiger. We need millions of signatures across the world. It may take years for politicians to come up with a solution, by which time; we have lost the wild tiger forever. The more signatures we have from all over the world, the more weight we carry, and the more they will listen.
In the meantime, we can protect them, and their numbers will grow whilst the arguments continue.
Go to our website at http://www.tigertime.info, give us your name, and if you can give us a donation, this would be fantastic. You can also buy Tigertime products for Christmas presents. Go on, you know you want to.
Please help me and all of the team at TigerTime protect the wild tiger. They need our help, and you can make the difference.
Thank you.