Tiger Trust

Tiger Trust is organising a cultural-cum-educational tour program to Kanha National Park from21-23rd March 2011.

2011-02-19T14:49:00.001+05:30

Tiger Trust firmly belives that in addition to an in-house awareness, a global awareness is also essential to curb the tiger poaching menace, Tiger Trust has established an on-going program with Clemson University and have carried out cross-cultural programs for the last eight years in various national parks of India. Tiger Trust and Clemson University have an on-going growing program of cooperation and Tigers for Tigers, a student led initiative has supported Tiger Trust. In the past students of Clemson University were invited to Ranthambhore National Park to interact with the local students of the village. This year we will be carrying out our annual collaborative program in Kanha National Park.

Veerappan's lair now a sanctuary for Tigers

2010-10-16T12:17:00.001+05:30

Improved habitat can double tiger count

2010-10-16T12:16:00.000+05:30

Over 130 Lepords killed this Year : Report

2010-10-16T12:15:00.002+05:30

Lovelone Tuskers script enchanting tale of passion

2010-10-16T12:12:00.001+05:30

"Students reaction to Tiger trust programme"

2010-06-08T10:07:00.000+05:30

Aaron Collins :The Tiger Trust program was an inspiring experience that helped me connect with the intelligent and cheerful children of India. I was able to interact with the children, see creative work the children had done in school, perform skits with the children, and most of all talk to the children, all with an environmental focus. I feel that the work we did with the children is very important in furthering the welfare of India’s environment, and the welfare of India’s people. The children were polite, respectful, and were genuinely delighted with our visit. Education is the first step in prevention, and informing tomorrow’s generation about today’s environmental problems is the first step in protecting India’s diverse, beautiful natural environment. The children particularly loved the interaction. I signed several autographs after performing the skit, and loved playing soccer with the children. I was a little upset about the trash leftover after the lunch provided for the children. Perhaps one educational presentation isn’t enough. It would be great to see environmental education implemented at the national level. Until we can prevent litter in India, we can’t save its environment.Elizabeth Crouch:Meeting the Children in Ranthambhore: Meeting the excited children at their school in Ranthambore was my favorite part of my trip to India. I have never before felt like such a celebrity! The children wanted our autographs and photographs. After complimenting the henna artwork on a little girl’s arm, she proceeded to “henna” me with a pen. The pictures of us are framed in my office now to remind me of the strong and warm spirited people I met in India. I felt truly honored when the children performed for us. The little girls had beautiful singing and outstanding dancing. This was the part of the trip that made me feel like I was from India! The little boys that spoke encouraged me with their talk of taking care of our world! The people were so welcoming that it made me feel like I was a part of this exotic land that was halfway around the world from my “home.” Finally, the play time in the afternoon gave me the opportunity to teach them about our “culture” and see how our play was similar even when the languages were different. It took the girls no time at all to catch on to “Ring around the Rosy” or “Duck-Duck-Goose.”Elliott Gleaton :On our second day there [Ranthambhore], we got to go out on a tiger drive with ~100 students from neighboring villages, and they got to see the tigress with us as well. I was really happy about that. Later, we got to do a skit for them, which they thoroughly enjoyed. We acted out a poaching that had occurred at the park the week before, and everyone involved said it was perfect, it didn’t go too far, but covered everything well. I’m glad that my idea came to fruition and was so well accepted. We got to play with the children later on a dirt field, with the sports equipment we had given them, including three Frisbees I brought. Also gave them three books, they got coloring books, crayons, pencils, and all kinds of small other things. There weren’t enough bags for everyone, which was stupid of the staff involved. I felt bad, but those students got even better presents. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip, we were signing hands and handing out phone numbers; hopefully we’ll be famous one day and make some of those kids rich later. I’ve never felt so famous before, but the kids were absolutely in love with us, and I’m sure they were 500 times happier than we were afterwards. That was a really great feeling.Melissa Hulbert:The Experience of a Lifetime The Tiger Trust assembly was informative and at the same time very entertaining. My favorite part of the assembly was getting to watch the young Indian girls perform their dances. However, the part I truly enjoyed was after the presentations and assembly when we got to talk and play with the children. Never before have I been so welcomed by a group of people. The sheer enthusiasm of the children brought a smile to not only my face but everyone around me. I got to play volleyball with a group of girls and I can honestly say that I haven’t had that much fun in quite awhile. Getting to spend the afternoon with the school children allowed me to remember that no matter what a person’s skin color, educational background, or nationality we all have the ability to come together as one and have fun with one another. The experience is one that I will not forget and truly brought a wonderful end to an unforgettable trip.Andrew LePorte:Tiger trust was an outstanding opportunity to interact with the future of tiger prevention and push for a world with an extroadinary population. I was extremely impressed with the speeches delievered and the songs performed in front of us. It was quite moving to see the kids in these schools speaking in English to us while expressing their concern for the tiger. It felt like I was part of something important. I had a blast performing my skit of the tigers that were poached only a week before. I sat with one of the kids during the ceremony and let him take pictures with my camera. I could tell it meant a lot to him knowing that this was perhaps the first time he held a camera like mine and took pictures. Playing soccer was also a lot of fun even though we played right after eating lunch. Overall I feel like the experience was very moving but I don’t know how much it impacted the children. After speaking of recycling, being clean, and protecting our environment I saw the ground littered with cups and garbage right after the program was finished. It was quite disheartening to see this happen. I sincerely hope that this program did have a strong impact for these children. I know it did for me!Iris Redwood-Sawyerr Spending the day with the local school children was easily one of my favorite days of the entire trip. I was truly impressed with their knowledge; they all wrote and spoke so well! While we may live on completely opposite sides of the world, we all share the same concerns for the environment and I was happy to share that with those children. It was however disappointing to see that after all the time we spent talking about not polluting and saving the earth, the courtyard area was full of trash after lunch. I really enjoyed playing different sports with the children as well. Overall the day spend with the local children was amazing and I hope that I can go it again someday.Reaction to the school children:Julia Snouck-Hurgronj:Going to visit the school children was one of my absolute favorite parts of the trip. It was really neat to see what they had to share with us, and it was exciting to share our experiences and knowledge with them. Despite the language barrier, we had so much fun talking to each other and playing games together. It was surprisingly easy to understand each other's meanings even though we didn't speak any Hindi, and they only spoke a little bit of English. I really had a wonderful time playing and teaching and learning, and I think those visits are one of the most important things that Clemson students do on this trip. Showing locals that live right next to the parks that people care about saving the tigers internationally is an important tool in encouraging them to care about the tigers.Jazmine Taylor:Our time with the village children was nice. I really hope they enjoyed the program that we had for them. They were absolutely wonderful with their speeches, singing and dancing. I was extremely impressed with the speeches in English and their English overall. It made me feel so bad when I could not understand what they were saying; it would have been nice to learn a little Hindi. The program was quite long with all of the translating! I feel bad that we did not have enough bags for all of the kids. I do wish that we had time to interact more the school children before rushing to eat and play sports; I feel like other than the sports we didn’t really get a chance to interact. I know with the volley ball only about 5 school children played. And it seemed with the soccer game that we were playing with some type of team. I suppose we should have asked them to teach us some of the games that they usually play.Kirtley Theisen :I absolutely loved the school visit and the tiger trust activities. The kids were so sweet and they made us feel very welcome. I loved being able to perform the short skit for them. It was such a great experience and the kids all seem so happy. Playing sports with the kids was a lot of fun too! I liked how sports in a way broke the language barrier between us because all sports are typically played by the same rules and through sports we were able to communicate. The only thing that wasn’t that great was the fact that after we just discussed saving the environment and keeping it clean, the kids through trash all over the ground and there were trashcans right outside. That was the only disappointment. The overall experience was amazing and I would love to do it again.Jessie Ulmer- I really enjoyed meeting the children and learning about their culture. It was so flattering that a lady brought her daughter to dance just because she read about the meeting in the local newspaper. All the girls were so proud to show us their culture through singing, dancing and skits. It was interesting to hear the children discuss what they want to do to help save the tigers and the environment. This event is so important because it educates the children on current problems and teaches them how they can take part in the solution to fix it. It is imperative that these children realize how easy it is to make a difference and know that every little bit helps. I enjoyed sharing our knowledge with the students. I was happy to get to give these children some presents. They are all so grateful for everything no matter how small or trivial. I had no idea that the students would be so warm and outgoing.Jennifer Walker I thought that visiting the school children was one of the best things that we did on this trip. I think that it really helped us to get another view of the children in India other than just seeing them begging in the train stations. I liked how the presentations went. It was really nice to see that even halfway across the world people are still focusing on the same goals that we are. I also really loved getting to play the games with the children. The only thing that I would change is the organization of everything. We did not know how many children were coming to the event until pretty much the night before. Even the day of we were hearing different numbers. This caused us to run out of gift bags to give to the children, which made me feel just awful. If we had had a concrete number we could have made more bags and not run out. It was also a little confusing at the event. We did not know when we were presenting, or what we were doing when we took a break in the middle, or what we were doing when we stopped for lunch. It was also pretty disappointing that right after the presentations all the trash from lunch was just everywhere.Hannah Woolbright :Being part of the Tiger Trust’s program for local children around Ranthambore Tiger Reserve was one of the most meaningful experiences in my life. Few international travelers get to take off the role of tourist to have real interactions with local people and for that interaction giving us a chance to influence young people for the better and spread such an importance message is priceless. It’s an experience I will never forget.

Tigress found dead in Bandhavgarh National Park

2010-06-03T12:09:00.002+05:30

A tigress, mother of 3 cubs was a delightful experience to be watched by the tourist. However she was hit by a tourist vehicle allegedly in which a VIP relative of a minister was accompanied by a forest staff was sitting. It is alleged that the entry was made beyond the permitted hours and this vehicle hit the tigress who was in pain and was charging the next morning at the vehicles, the matter was reported to the authorities. However the tigress was found dead later on. The medical autopsy revealed that her spleen was punctured due to the hitting of vehicle. Three employees of forest staff have been suspended and the matter has been handed over to CID (Police Deptt.)

Comment: Should the VIPs or their relatives be given any special treatment?
Unfortunately in our country this is real facts who consider themselves to have a birth right to enjoy extraordinary power and also disturb the animals aided and abetted by the forest staff. This is deplorable.

Please Send your comments.

Exposed: Dark secret of the farm where tigers' bodies are plundered to make £185 wine

2010-05-05T09:44:00.003+05:30

Behind rusted bars, a skeletal male tiger lies panting on the filthy concrete floor of his cage, covered in sores and untreated wounds. His once-fearsome body is so emaciated it is little more than a pitiful pile of fur and bones.

Death is surely a matter of days away and can only come as a welcome release. Wardens at the wildlife park in southwest China say, indifferently, that they do not expect him to see the start of the Year of the Tiger which began last Sunday.
'What can we do?' a female park official asks a small huddle of visitors with a sigh and a casual shrug. 'He's dying, of course, but we have to keep feeding him until he does. It's against the law to kill tigers.'
Dying breed: One of the emaciated tigers in a cage at the Xiongshen Tiger and Bear Mountain Village in Guilin, China
Instead, it seems, they die slowly of neglect. In row after row of foul, cramped cages, more tigers lie alone, crippled and dying. One is hunched up against the side of its cage with its neck grotesquely deformed. Another, blinded in one eye, lies motionless.
This shabby, rundown park in Guilin - one of China's main tourist cities - is home to the world's biggest single collection of tigers. Yet it is never included on foreigners' tour itineraries.
For here, 1,500 captive tigers - around half as many as there are thought to be remaining in the wild - live out miserable lives in squalid conditions.
Each tiger costs around £6 a day to feed, and it is easy to see that the small clusters of visitors paying £7.50 each to wander around the cages and watch bizarre animal shows cannot possibly cover even the cost of food for the vast park.
The reason is the tigers, mostly Siberian, are far more valuable dead than alive.
For a 55lb pile of bones from a single tiger can be worth up to £225,000. There is a hugely lucrative trade in the skeletons at the Guilin park.
Dead tigers are driven 200 miles from the park, officially called the Xiongshen Tiger and Bear Mountain Village, to a huge subterranean complex where their fur is stripped from their carcasses and their bones collected to make tiger wine that can sell for £185 a bottle.
So for the park, where the tigers are bred for their bones, every year is the Year of the Tiger, and conservationists fear that the vile trade could be helping push some species of wild big cat into extinction.
On paper, China has signed international wildlife treaties that ban all trade in tiger body parts and claims to have outlawed the industry.
In reality, Xiongshen and other parks like it operate in a grey area of the law, using the bones of animals that have died naturally in captivity to produce 'medicinal' wine, apparently with the government's blessing.
Tigers have been used in Chinese traditional medicine for centuries. Their eyeballs are used to treat epilepsy, their bile to stop convulsions, their whiskers to sooth toothache and their penises as a potent sexual tonic.
The most valuable parts, however, are the bones, which are used to make wine that is said to cure rheumatism and arthritis, and prolong life.
Despite its rapid modernisation, the use of traditional medicine in China has increased rather than declined because more people can afford exotic treatmentsRead more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1252500/Exposed-Dark-secret-farm-tigers-bodies-plundered-make-185-wine.html#ixzz0n1eJfLoK

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Lion Count goes up!

2010-05-04T17:52:00.005+05:30

Tiger's Den is now the dumping ground

2010-05-04T17:44:00.004+05:30

Two tiger cubs were found dead at Ranthambore National Park

2010-05-04T17:25:00.000+05:30

Two tiger cubs were found dead at Ranthambore National Park. On investigation it was revealed that the tiger cubs were poisoned to death by the villagers residing in and around the periphery of the Park. The deaths of these tiger cubs are an unfortunate outcome of the man-animal conflict which is one of the main reasons of decline in tiger population. The cause is that these two tigers had killed three goats of the poachers who reside near the forest. In order to take revenge he took this extreme step with his accomplices and poisoned two goats which were eaten by the tigers and they died. The Tiger Trust is helping the Forest Department and his confession has been recorded and the matter is now progressing well in the Court and the poachers are still under judicial custody.

'No more pugmark-tracking for tiger count'

2009-11-17T16:28:00.002+05:30

Tigress dies in Ranthambore

2009-11-17T16:26:00.001+05:30

Now, a software to track tigers by their stripes

2009-11-17T16:22:00.003+05:30

13th Annual Kailash Sankhala Memorial Lecture

2009-08-08T14:33:00.001+05:30

Tiger Trust organized 13th Kailash Sankhala Memorial Lecture in association with WWF India on 4th August, 2009 at WWF-India auditorium. The event was attended by 218 delegates including students, representatives of Government departments, NGOs and media.

Every year, Tiger Trust celebrates the contribution of Lt. Sh. Kailash Sankhala, the first director of Project Tiger in India who expressed his concern on the dwindling tiger population as early as in the year 1969.

The memorial lecture also marks the completion of Tiger Trust’s 20 years. Tiger Trust has been working tirelessly for the protection of tigers and their habitats. The trust has also been involved in various conservation activities, mainly in capacity building programmes for imparting legal/technical training in all the major tiger reserves and is active in various states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

Dr. Ashok Khosla, eminent environmentalist and winner of the United Nations’ Sasakawa Environment Prize 2002 was the keynote speaker, he spoke on “Ecosystem Services – the Ultimate Source of Wealth”. Dr. Khosla started his talk with the conservation and protection of Tigers and then covered the values of different natural resources and how to use these resources in sustainable manner.
Dr. Ashok Khosla also focused on the need to maintain the balance of the eco-system to sustain life-support systems and believes that if our economic activity destroys the capability of the eco-system, future generations will pay a very heavy cost.

A small presentation was played about the efforts of Lt. Shri Kailash Sankhala. Ms. Anjana Gosain, Honorary Secretary, Tiger Trust said that, “Lt Shri kailash Sankhala has given me the responsibility to continue the efforts of Tiger conservation through Tiger Trust; I am trying my best to do the same”.

Other prominent delegates were Ms. Rina Mitra, Director, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, Shri Deependra Singh Shekhawat, Speaker Rajasthan Assembly, Shri S P Yadav, Deputy Director, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Shri Ravi Singh, Secretary General & CEO, WWF-India, Shri R N Mehrotra, Chief Wildlife Warden, Rajasthan Forest Department and Shri Manjit S. Participants at the lecture Ahluwalia, Resource Person, Tiger Trust.

Giving the vote of thanks, Amit Sankhala, Trustee, Tiger Trust said that, “with support from all the forest officials and NGOs we will continue the movement started by Lt. Shri Kailash Sankhala for the conservation of Tigers and their habitat”.

55 young students from SNS Foundation participated in the event.

The event was supported by SNS Foundation and HSBC bank.

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Survived Maoists, but tigers could prey to tribals

2009-07-28T17:58:00.002+05:30

Green tribunal gets Cabinet go-ahead

2009-07-28T17:46:00.001+05:30

Rajasthan to be home for Cheetahs

2009-07-28T17:32:00.000+05:30

2009-07-15T13:33:00.000+05:30

2009-07-15T13:16:00.001+05:30

2009-07-15T12:53:00.002+05:30

2009-07-01T18:24:00.000+05:30

Source: Indian Expree, 28 June, 2009

Assam Forest Staff gets legal training to curb Rhino and Tiger poaching

2009-06-24T11:41:00.004+05:30

Tiger Trust India launched a legal training programme in Assam with support from USFWS. A two days workshop was conducted from 8th to 9th June in Kaziranga National Park. The workshop was conducted in collaboration with Assam Forest Department & ATREE. More than fifty forest staffs were trained during the workshop about the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and other laws related to wildlife crime prosecution. The workshop was presided over by Ms. Anjana Gosain, Honorary Secretary, Tiger Trust India, Mr. D. M. Singh, CCF Wildlife, Mr. Gagoi, DFO Kaziranga National Park and Mr. Neeraj Kakoti, ATREE.

On the first day Wildlife Protection Act 1972 & Criminal Procedure Code were discussed in detail by Ms. Anjana Gosain & Mr. Manjit Ahluwalia. While on the second day Indian Evidence Act, 1872 was discussed with emphasis on the provisions in relation to statement of the witnesses, confessions, deposition as witnesses. An interactive session was held with the at the end of the workshop to answer the queries of participants related to local wildlife crime cases.

“The overall response of the workshop was very positive, and we would be doing two more workshop to develop an in-house legal training system”, said Ms. Anjana Gosain, Honorary Secretary, Tiger Trust India.

To support our legal programme click here

Now Genetic data to help track tigers

2009-06-17T18:19:00.002+05:30

News Sourse: Livemint, 16 June 2009

Minister spots the tiger, clears aircrafts and sensors for Corbett

2009-06-17T18:15:00.002+05:30

News Source: Indian Express, 15th June 2009

No Tigers in MP Panna means Gir Keeps Lion share

2009-06-17T18:09:00.003+05:30

News Source: Indian Expree, 15th June, 2009

No Plastic Campaign in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan

2009-05-13T17:13:00.003+05:30

Tiger Trust would be launching a no Plastic campaign in Ranthambore Tiger Reserve on 30th May 2009. We look forward for your support for our campaign.

Anjana Gosain recieved award for her contribution to Ecotourism

2009-05-08T14:50:00.002+05:30

Anjana Gosain, Honarary Secreatry, Tiger Trust recieved award from Goverment of Punjab for her contribution to eco-tourism on World Environment Day. At the occasion Chief Minister, Goverment of Punjab, Mr. Prakash Singh Badal was present along with other respected guests.

Tiger Trust conducted a legal training program for forest officials

2009-04-30T16:24:00.007+05:30

Tiger Trust has conducted a two day workshop on wildlife crime detection, investigation and prosecution for Forest officials in Forest Training Institute, Jaipur in collaboration Rajasthan Forest Department. Tiger Trust is involve in such training program since last many years. At the occasion Mr. Anil Verma, Additional District Judge, MP, Mr. Somshekhar, Chief Conservator Forest, Wildlife, Ms. Anjana Gosain, Secretary, Tiger Trust, and Mr. Manjeet Ahluvalia, Advocate Delhi High Court were present. A total of 18 participants were present during the workshop representing different Protected areas of Rajasthan state. The workshop was inaugurated by Mr. Somshekhar, he told about the need of such workshops. The trail was done on sample cases in guidance of Mr. Anil Verma. Later on a interactive session was held with the participants in regards to judicial aspects of the wildlife crime, the session was headed by Ms. Anjana Gosain. Mr. Anil Verma also shared his experience with wildlife cases with the participants. He also taught the participants about the court procedure and investigation of crime by taking case studies.

In this workshop master trainers will be selected for the inhouse training program by the Rajasthan Forest Department.

Steps For Successful Prosecution of Wildlife Clime (Guide Book)

2009-04-02T17:25:00.000+05:30

Title : ‘Steps For Successful Prosecution of Wildlife Clime (Guide Book) ’
Author : Anjana Gosain
Cost : Rs. 90/- (INR)

The book, both in English and Hindi, contains important judgements as decided by The Supreme Court of India as well as various High Courts across India under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It would be helpful for lawyers, wildlife researchers, forest officials as well as libraries. The price has been fixed at a no-profit-no-loss basis.

For more details Please visit www.tigertrustindia.com

Tiger Trust India Mission

2009-04-02T17:24:00.000+05:30

The Tiger Trust is working towards the mission of working on the root cause and steps to be supported on the reasons which have led to the near extinction status of the tiger. It has identified the areas where maximum support is required and is working tirelessly with the help of very able team of volunteers and staff.Tiger Trust is associated with all the National Parks through the Forest Department for creating and training awareness among the related persons to combat the wildlife crime resulted in poaching of critically endangered animals. Ourmission is towards bringing the man and animal conflict to the minimum level. We are working towards bringing harmony while achieving this goal by involving the Forest Department, local villagers, local judiciary, police, intelligence networking, doctors, legal luminaries as each one of them has a role to play. Final mission is to bring the poachers to book and speak on behalf of the victimized animals and defend them for their survival which is their right as much as of the human being. The Trust is trying the achieve this goal through many methods and projects.