Journey For Tiger

Journey for TigerSave Tigers before they are silenced forever…

Tigers are synonymous with Asian Wilderness, vital to our culture for many centuries. Tiger is the symbol of a lone warrior, famous for its enigma, hegemony and valour. This supreme beast is subject to numerous folktales and fables in Asian literature, predominantly in India, China and Japan. Citation of tigers as an integrated part of tribal culture dates back as early as Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro civilization, almost 5000 years back. In an ancient Chinese writing, more than 2000 years back, tigers were delineated as, “existence of tigers is excellent for humans, as tigers prey on swine that destroy cultivation”. Since early Chinese civilization tigers embody fortune just like unicorns and dragons and have been deemed as protectors. But unlike unicorns and dragons, which are imaginary, tigers are very much real and a critical part of our eco-system. In Chinese alphabets, the pattern on a tiger’s forehead resemblances the ideogram that represents kings, hence tigers are revered as royalty. In Aryan and Non-Aryan religious practices in India, tigers are worshipped as or in association with deities. Tigers have often been used as national symbols for many countries. In modern times India, Bangladesh, Malayasia, South Korea have crowned Tiger as the National Animal. As a whole, in Asian civilization, the name tiger transpires awe and aura.

Though tigers are eminent parts of Asian Natural History, their stint with contemporary is daunting. Among nine original sub-species of tigers, three declared extinct by 1980 (Bali 1940, Java 1970, Caspian 1981). Remaining six sub-species are trying hard to keep up with the shifting scenarios of natural habitats. Stretching from the snow-clad south of Amur Basin in the far North, to the tropical dry and moist deciduous, evergreen forests, rain forests and mangrove forests, there are only 3800 tigers left in the wilderness till date. Out of those 3800 wild tigers, we have more than 2600 in India. If we don’t take immediate action to spread awareness regarding the necessities of Tiger Conservation among people of the countries, where these largest felids of the earth still roam in woods, we will lose them forever.

“Journey for the Tiger” is a cross border bike ride to create awareness about Tiger Conservation among the general populace, especially children and youth. This will the very first initiative of its kind in the history of Tiger Conservation Efforts across the globe.

Profile of the Voyagers

Mr. Rathindranath Das

Rathindranath Das, popularly known as “Rathin” among nature and wildlife lovers of the country is a 42-year old Wildlife Enthusiast and conservationist from Kolkata. Inspired by the Part IV A, Article 51A/G of the Constitution of India, Rathin considered it as his fundamental duty as an Indian to contribute in conservation activities to protect lakes, rivers, forests and wildlife of the country.

Rathin has been dedicatedly associated with Wildlife Crime Control Bureaufor last 4 years in their Anti-Poaching and Wildlife Conservation Programmes.

Being an innate rider with unconstrained compassion for the environment and wildlife, Rathin has always looked for ways to contribute as little as he could to make the world a better place to live, by making valuable alliances with conscious minds across the globe.

He started his first ever venture “All India Bike Tour” from 3rd October ’16 to 13th February ’17, endorsing the theme “Save Forest Save Wildlife”. Rathin covered a total of 27138 Kms, 29 States, 5 Union Territories and conducted awareness campaign in 2200 Schools across the Nation. That venture was covered by Local and National News Medias.

In his second undertaking, Rathin covered 2822Kms and conducted awareness on the theme ‘SAVE RHINOs’ in 167 Schools across West Bengal and Assam.

After the great success of first two, Rathin and his fellow Nature Enthusiast Mrs. Geetanjali Dasgupta (she is also his better half) together rode to covered 6021 kms and reached 232 schools across 10 Indian states to spread awareness on “Why to save our Wildlife!”

The Plan

The “Journey” will be undertaken in three phases to cover all the Tiger populated countries across the world with the slogan “Save The Tiger”.

� In the 1 st Phase, all 50 Tiger Reserves across India will be covered and awareness programme will be conducted in 500 schools and villages in tiger populated areas of the country.

� In the 2 nd Phase, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam Cambodia and Laos will be covered.

� China, Russia, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh will be covered in the 3 rd and Final Phase.