Kolkata Couple Goes Biking Across 28 States & 5 UTs To Inspire 26k People To Save Tigers

Our national animal is also one of the most endangered species in our country. Presently, there are just 3,900 tigers left in the Indian forests. Many projects and initiatives have been started by the government, NGOs and the public to save tigers from extinction.

In one such approach, a couple from Kolkata went the extra mile by traveling to 28 states and 5 union territories to spread awareness about tiger conservation. Rathindra Das and Gitanjali kicked off their campaign titled ‘Journey For Tigers’ on February 15 from West Bengal. Over the course of eight months, the couple has visited 28 states and five union territories, reports News 18.

They have so far traveled to states like Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Panjab, Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat among others. The couple reportedly has managed to convey their message to around 26,000 people, urging them to see the importance of conserving the endangered species.

“The aim of this journey is to spread awareness among people about the actual role of tigers in human life. We can take a breath in the open sky due to forest and forest is only left out owing to tigers. We touch not only urban and rural areas but also tiger reserve centers of the states. I entered Satkosia tiger reserve in the morning in Odisha,” Rathindra Das told HT.

He also said that his social connections and close friends have sponsored this project. As per data collected by an international non-profit organization, TRAFFIC, every year around 124 tigers were killed between 2000 and 2018 in the country.

Another report titled “Skin and Bones Unresolved: An Analysis of Tiger seizures from 2000-2018” stated that in the last 18 years, body parts of as many as 2,359 tigers were seized across 32 countries worldwide.

The saddening part is that a majority of these numbers were reported from India. “There were a total of 1,142 seizure incidents worldwide. Out of these, 95.1 percent (or 1,086 incidents) occurred in the 13 Asian tiger range countries, accounting for 2,241 tigers,” the report stated.

Rathindra and Gitanjali are certainly doing a great job by contributing their bit to tiger conservation. Kudos to the couple for their efforts!