Tiger Ambassadors rally youth to support #zeropoaching

“Tigers are enshrined and venerated in our culture,” says Pradeep Rijal, Youth Tiger Ambassador for Nepal. He is on the outskirts of Bardia National Park, Nepal. “In the Hindu religion, they are an iconic symbol of power and strength, as well as a protector of nature. ”

Pradeep is one of the Youth Tiger Ambassadors who were selected by WWF to attend the 2010 Youth Tiger Summit in Vladivostok, which ran in parallel with the  historic Tiger Summit in St Petersburg. Here tiger governments agreed the Tx2 goal, to double wild tigers by 2022.

"It's part of our national pride. In saving the tiger we conserve our country's biodiversity" - Md. Al-Amin Shaikh , Tiger Youth Ambassador for Bangladesh.

The role of the tiger youth ambassadors was to raise awareness of tiger conservation among the youth of their countries, a role they have continued for the past 5 years and now on the eve of the Symposium: Towards Zero Poaching in Asia, they are calling on their generation to support Zero Poaching and end the Asian poaching crisis.

“Tigers are a symbol of majesty, the real kings and queens of our forest” - Devanshu, Tiger Youth Ambassador for India.

“We cannot force the youth to care.” said Le Minh Quoc, Tiger Youth Ambassador for Vietnam “Instead, we need to change the way the youth think about conservation”

"We need to learn to coexist with animals on the planet harmoniously" - Sousata Chemcheng, Tiger Youth Ambassador for Laos

"We want our future generations to hear the tiger roar” - Khin Moe Pyayt, Tiger Youth Ambassador for Myanmar

Dannee McGuire, Tiger Youth Ambassador for UK agrees “Education begins with the young. Through working with children, adolescents and young adults, we can be the generation to make a difference.”

“Many young  people admire the tigers in a zoo,”said Amalia Syarief and Lely Puspita, Tiger Youth Ambassadors for Indonesia. “We hope they will grow to have the same appreciation for tigers in the wild.”

“Save our wildlife, save the whole ecosystem" - Onny Sengphaathith, Tiger Youth Ambassador for Laos

"The youth can't just be observers, we must inspire them to act." - Dannee McGuire, Tiger Youth Ambassador for UK

Kabita Kunwar, also a Nepal Tiger Ambassador, is eagerly waiting to see the outcomes of this Symposium. “I hope the conference will be a platform to spread the message of conservation  around the world. We need plans, policies and anti-poaching teams, but we also need youth awareness. Today’s youth play a vital role in making a difference.”

Many thanks to all the Tiger Youth Ambassadors for their continued support and a special thank you to Dannee McGuire for inspiring and writing this article.