Tiger Nation aiming to preserve the Bengal tiger
Tourists to India’s ‘tiger state’ of Madhya Pradesh are being utilised by the organisers of a new conservation project.
With unnatural causes accounting for 45 per cent of tiger deaths, Tiger Nation aims to protect the remaining 1,700 Bengal tigers in India by harnessing the power of social media.
Combining ID software that recognises tigers by their unique stripe pattern and a giant database cataloguing every tiger photograph and sighting, the campaign website will become a resource for monitoring the progress of these majestic creatures.
Commenting on the project, Julian Matthews, the founder of Tour Operators for Tigers, told the Telegraph that India is lagging behind Africa in the struggle to protect endangered species.
“The problem at the moment is that India is where countries like Kenya were in the 1970s,” he said.
“To some extent Tiger Nation is an answer to that, saying let’s show you how tourism can build a powerful conservation tool. It is people-powered conservation.”
Written by Nicholas Scott
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