International Tiger Day July 29

Founded at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in 2010, International Tiger Day is a day dedicated to celebrating and raising awareness for wild tigers.

In just over a century we have lost 97% of all wild tigers with as few as 3200 left in the wild today; the Balinese, Javan, and Caspian tigers are already extinct.  At the current rate of loss, tigers continue to be seriously vulnerable to extinction. Protected under international law by CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) and listed as endangered on the IUCN red list, the continuing demand for tiger parts for medicine, trinkets, talismans, food, and home decor means that the black market for tiger skins and body parts continues to threaten their survival.

TigerTime, through its parent charity the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF), has been working to protect wild tiger populations for over 30 years. Our founder, wildlife artist, and conservationist David Shepherd CBE played a key part in Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s launch of Project Tiger in the 1970s when his iconic painting Tiger Fire raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to support the conservation initiative. And, in the 1990s when the Soviet Union broke down and the wholesale systematic poaching of Russia’s tigers threatened them with extinction, we were part of the international coalition that saved this magnificent subspecies from certain extinction. The numbers of Amur tigers had crashed to fewer than 100 but today, with our continuing support, the subspecies has risen to a more viable c.450.

In 2011, recognising the continuing threat to the world’s wild tigers,  DSWF launched the TigerTime Campaign, a social media-based initiative designed to raise awareness of the plight of the tiger and to engage new audiences in their protection. With over 750,000 supporters, the campaign continues to drive awareness and calls for an end to the trade in tiger parts.

TigerTime currently supports tiger conservation in India, Thailand, and Russia and funds undercover investigations into the wildlife crime that is pushing tigers to the brink of extinction.

You can support this critical conservation work:

• Donate to save wild tigers
  

Thank you for your support and for helping us to raise awareness for and to protect one of the world’s most iconic and endangered big cats. 

We’ve joined 45 NGOs calling for an end to the tiger trade.