Charity walk stokes funds for wild tigers General June 1, 2016 PRESS RELEASE On Saturday 11th June, ten Stoke-on-Trent residents will fly the flag for wild tigers by walking the ‘Six Towns of Stoke’. The 7 ½ mile charity walk, which has been organised by passionate conservationist and local resident Anthony Bellamy, will start in Longton and end in Tunstall, passing through Fenton, Stoke, Hanley and Burslem. Commenting on the motivation behind the fundraiser for TigerTime Anthony said: “The tiger, to me, has always been a creature of magnificence, power and splendour and to see its numbers plummet down to what they are today is heart breaking. I believe that if such an iconic animal as the tiger cannot be saved there is no hope for the future of the earth. With that in mind, I decided I could do more and came up with the idea of the sponsored walk, in aid of tiger conservation.” The money raised from the walk will support tiger conservation in India, Thailand and Russia and help fund undercover investigations into wildlife crime and trafficking throughout the Far East. “We are hugely grateful to Anthony and the team walking the Six Towns of Stoke-on-Trent for committing their time and energy towards helping us save tigers in the wild. With such a small population of tigers surviving in the wild every step, every donation, will make a difference to protecting these amazing cats big and their vital forest homes, ” says TigerTime Campaign Manager, Vicky Flynn. For more information on the walk and how you can support the walkers visit the Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/events/478614592334028/ Notes: WALKING WITH TIGERS: Territory patrolled by a female Amur Tiger in Russia = 174 miles2 (450km2) Territory patrolled by a female Bengal Tiger in India = 8miles2 (20km2) There are c.450 Amur tigers in Russia living in the largest contiguous tiger territory on earth. Although India holds 70% of the world’s wild tigers (c.2,300) increasing human populations mean that tigers are being forced to live in smaller and more fragmented territories. Average daily stroll patrol of his territory for a male tiger in the wild = 31 miles At full speed (35mph) a tiger would run the 7.5 miles between Longton and Burslem in 12 minutes. ABOUT TIGERS IN THE WILD The tiger remains in crisis. Since the 1970s wild tiger numbers have been maintained at c.97% of what they were at the turn of the 20th Century at c. 3 – 3,500. Once they roamed as far west as Turkey but today they have lost 93% of their territory. The major threats to wild tigers are habitat loss, human encroachment and conflict and poaching for the illegal wildlife trade. Discover more a https://davidshepherd.org/our-work/tigers Link copied
