Save Tiger

Tiger is symbol of wilderness and well-being of the ecosystem. By conserving and saving tigers the entire wilderness ecosystem is conserved. In nature, barring human beings and their domesticates, rest of the ecosystem is wild. Hence conserving wilderness is important and crucial to maintain the life support system. So saving tiger amounts to saving the ecosystem which is crucial for man's own survival.

A recent and detailed survey by the
 WILDLIFE INSTITUTE OF INDIA (WII) has shown that estimates of tiger numbers surviving in India are hugely optimistic. A century ago, India had about 40,000 tigers. By 1988, due to direct poaching, loss of quality habitat and loss of its prey, there were just 4,500 left. Now the true figure is 1411 may be less in number if we could get an update on this..the results could be a very sad reading..It’s really sad to know that we have only 1411 tigers left in India and if no proper care is taken, they will extinct soon and our future generations would talk about tigers as we are talking about dinosaurs for sure!

The Tiger is the National Animal of India, and ideally India has the highest number of wild tigers in the world. But now so it’s the high time for every Indian to come forward and save tigers by spreading the word in all the possible ways.

I personally thank Aircel, one of the leading mobile service provider in India for the release of awareness advertisement “Save Our Tigers”. It touches your heart for sure.

Ganesh Festival, the grand festival of Maharashtra and the surrounding states, is certainly not just an occasion of celebrations. It should also be seen as a means to initiate something productive and spread the general awareness regarding the social issues.
That was precisely what even Lokmanya Tilak wanted to achieve when he gave the private Ganesh festival a public form. You will be pleased to see this kind of sensitivity towards the current social issues shown by the Ganesh Installation at artist Sheil Sadwelkar’s studio in Kondwa.
Students of the MAEER’s MIT Institute of Design (MITID) have installed a red Ganesh idol made of Shadoo clay. The mount of lord Ganesha here is not a mouse as is the case otherwise. Lord Ganesh is mounted on a life size tiger. Hundreds of beautiful paintings of tigers in the background are more than enough to make us aware regarding the dwindling population of tigers in India.
When we contacted Mr. Sadwelkar he said, “I had been thinking about coupling the Ganesh installation with the save the tiger’ theme for the last four to five years now. People like Neelimkumar Khaire, Kiran Purandare, Bibhas Amonkar and Issac Kehimkar, who are experts in the field of wildlife and environment, have helped me translate this dream into reality with their assistance.”
The paintings in the background that serve as an excellent backdrop for the Ganesh idol are the woks of the students of the VCW Academy of Fine Arts. Mr. Sadwelkar had a sound reason for handling this topic for this year’s Ganesh decorations. He said, “A Ganapati installation is often misinterpreted. One of its aims is to pass on a meaningful message to the world, and the display does just that. It makes you stop and think about what you have done to save the tiger and how you are planning to do so if you have not.”
Mr. Sadwelkar also said that Lord Ganesh is the deity of intelligence, wisdom, knowledge and arts. He is regarded as the source of inspiration for the new beginnings and initiatives. We worship Lord Ganesha at the beginning of every important work and that’s what Sadwelkar and his companions want to convey. It is high time that we did something for saving the rapidly declining tiger population in the country. He said, “This is another reason why I chose to take up this issue during Ganeshotsav.”