106? - this happens
to be the result representing the preliminary findings of a very rather
interesting population of tigers left within the boundaries of Bangladesh, it
is indeed worrying to say the least. Especially for a nation that prides the
great cat as its nation animal. Eleven years ago when the Bengal Tiger started
to face extinction, statistics and data capture provided figures of the big
cats to be around 440 in the wild. Efforts to help tiger populations began all
over the world to help reduce the number of casualties in the ever growing war
against poaching of these magnificent animals.
The people of the world helped by raising awareness and for a while due
to selective and captive breeding, hope seemed to rekindle for the tigers
representing our nations to the world. With everyone doing their part, S.F.X
Greenherald International School also joined in on it. Our very own GreenWorld
Earth Club (GWEC), led by Julian Malcolm Mendez and Shariful Anwar marched and
enthusiastic faces consisting almuni as well as current students from Manik Mia
Avenue with hundreds dressed in orange standing up for the endangered species.
An army of orange made its way to Krishibid
Institute of Bangladesh to attend a workshop on how to inspire the nation
to dedicate its resources to save these magnificent animals.
Yet after so
much effort, it seems the tigers are once again at the face of extinction. 29th
of July has been recognized as the World Tiger Day to raise awareness for the
presence of such adversity to the cats. It is recognized all around the world
every year and was founded at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in
2010. Many animal welfare organizations
pledged to help these wonderful creatures and are still helping to raise funds
to reach this goal. The goal of Tiger Day is to promote the protection and
expansion of the wild tiger habitats and to gain support through awareness for
tiger conservation.
With every factor weighing in even if by the slightest,
tigers are anything but safe from extinction. Right now, the best we can do is
assist to raise awareness regarding the issue and taking a stand to help
maintain more canvases of orange with stripes. For it’s our help that shall
engender the balancing act and hopefully tip it towards the benefit of the
Bengal Tigers.