GLOBAL TIGER DAY 2013: orange and black stripes covering Monas

photo gathering

Jakarta - Monday (29/7) about 100 people gathering in National Monument of Jakarta, Monas. As a year ago, Global Tiger Day celebrated. Not only the college students, but also kids and adults were the participants. Biology and non-biology, wildlife photographers and non-wildlife came for doing one thing: catch up the awareness of people about tiger conservation. We have to SAY NO TO TIGER TRAFFICKING!

Indonesia should be proud for getting rainforest and its mega biodiversity, but Indonesia should not be proud of their extinct animals! Indonesia used to have Bali Tiger (Panthera tigris ssp. balica) and Javan Tiger (Panthera tigris ssp. sondaica), but now Indonesia just have a few number of Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris ssp. sumatrae). It is critically endangered C2a(i); CITES: Appendix I in redlist category and criteria. WWF said, "Accelerating deforestation and rampant poaching across the Sumatran tiger's range mean that unless authorities enforce the law, this subspecies will soon follow the fate of its extinct Javan and Balinese relatives."

Some people see the value of tiger as prestige. They want the tiger as their collection, and other people try to hunt tigers for selling them to those people. And another primitive-brained people, use parts of tiger as their talisman. Oh what a pretty stupidities! Dont they think? They make the tigers will be extinct soon! Later, their children just know the tiger from photos in the book. Their children will never know how does tiger look in fact. Poor children. Awareness of tiger conservation is in low level. That is the reason we gotta do campaign for raising the awareness!

People around the world celebrate this annually international event, this global awareness raising since 2010 in Tiger Summit at the Saint Petersburg, Russia. Forum Harimau Kita (FHK), an independent national community of people care for Sumatran Tiger, as a captain in Indonesia for celebrating this event. FHK with its tiger-heart community comes from any communities around Indonesia do the campaign, education, and socialisation to public about protecting Sumatran Tiger. 

Last Monday, FHK with tiger-heart from KPB Nycticorax UNJ, CMC Acropora UNJ, KSP Macaca UNJ, KPB Nectarinia UIN, Comata UI, Himakova IPB, Transformasi Hijau, icluded a mandarin student of UI, an oceanology of UNDIP, an economic student of UIN, a birdwatcher of Bionic UNY, singer, photographers, and reporters held Global Tiger Day 2013 in Monas. We are almost 100 in total. Some of us got face painting (as a tiger for sure), some others got tiger mask. We got the banner and show it off to visitors of Monas. Giving Global Tiger Day stickers, tiger magazine, and pins for them, they also gives us their minutes for our explanation about tiger conservation. We pin down them about how much important their help for telling us (FHK) if just they know a tiger trade or anything else about link in internet, still tiger in case. Trading the king of jungle is not a good idea at all. Our target visitors are anyone; kids, students, drink sellers, families, even basketball player and police! haha. 

participants

I painted them both hahaha Oceanology UNDIP and Mandarin UI students

Himakova IPB

KSP Macaca and CMC Acropora UNJ

KPB Nectarinia UIN

Comata UI

with singer (Dea Mirella as GTD2013 ambassador) and photographers

photographers and reporters

KPB Nycticorax UNJ socialize GTD to visitor of Monas

KPB Nycticorax UNJ socialize to father accompanying his children playing kites

KPB Nycticorax UNJ socialize to Police

KPB Nycticorax UNJ socialize GTD to basketball player

the tigers

Visitors look at us in a question, "beautiful face, handsome face, why do they want their face painted to be a tiger?" Yep, this is our way! We want to attract them by orange and black stripes on our face and t-shirt. We try to announce them, the tigers need their attention. Tigers should and have to be protected! No more dead tigers, please. No more hunting. No more illegal trading. The big cat has pretty colors of orange and white skin with the black stripes will not be prettier when it is dead than alive one. Its pretty skin is not for display in house, it is a display in jungle as the king! 

tiger at Ragunan Zoo, Jakarta

And remember this: jungle is not just a name for the king, but it is its habitat, its life! So, please stop deforestation 'cause strong signs of deforestation in Sumatra reported by NASA satelite, The Global Forest Disturbance Alert System (GloF-DAS). Based on FHK's website, "Today, habitat destruction is the greatest threat to the population. Logging continues even in the protected national parks. It has recorded that more than 33 Sumatran tigers has killed every year." :(

Refferences:

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/41682/0
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/41681/0

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/15966/0

http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/tigers/about_tigers/sumatran_tiger/

http://tigerday.org/tiger-species/

http://harimaukita.or.id/news/detail/62

http://harimaukita.or.id/about