World's Youth Come Together to Save Tigers

by Annie Hartnett · 2010-10-08 06:12:00 UTC
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It might be getting close to Halloween, but this little girl isn't dressed up as a tiger to go Trick or Treating. She's taking part in a video filmed by the Interational Fund for Animal Welfare's Animal Action Week, which runs from October 4 to October 10.

"Please save the tigers," she pleads.

This is the 18th annual Animal Action Week, and this year's focus is halting the extinction of tigers. The week serves to educate kids on what they can do to help save tigers from extinction. IFAW reaches five million children worldwide each year, and the organization has already collected videos of some of these young activists and made a short film called Roar! Youth for Tigers.

This video will be presented next month during the Global Tiger Summit. World leaders plan to gather in Russia to discuss stricter poaching laws and better habitat protection. It is a sign of how desperate things are for the big cats — there are fewer than 3,200 tigers remaining in the wild. Tigers are illegally hunted and traded across Asia for their meat and for their bones, used in traditional Chinese medicine and to make tiger bone wine.

The IFAW has some star-power behind it as well: Leonardo DiCaprio is serving as the spokesperson for the Animal Action Week. DiCaprio is an honorary board member of IFAW, and a major advocate for tigers. He also serves as an ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund's Save Tigers Now campaign.

"I don't want to grow up in a world without tigers," says another little girl in the IFAW video. Sign the Wildlife Conservation Society's petition to increase protections for wild tigers through the Global Conservation Act. The world's children shouldn't have to live in a world without tigers.

Photo Credit: IFAW Roar! Youth for Tigers.

Annie Hartnett is a writer and animal advocate who has worked for several wildlife rehabilitation centers and environmental programs.

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