THE ECONOMIC TIMES
17 Mar 2009, IANS

HAMILTON: India's cricketing great Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday batted for tiger conservation, alarmed by their fast decline.

"At the start of the century, there were nearly 40,000 tigers in India. Today, that number has shrunk to 1,700 and we are losing at least one tiger a month. The rate at which the tiger is being hunted down is alarming," said Tendulkar.

Tendulkar signed the Team Indian tiger banner -- "Together, we can do whatever we can to save the tiger."

Tendulkar said if people do not wake up to the reality now, the day is not far when there would be no tigers left in the world.

"We all know there was an animal called a dinosaur. Tomorrow, we would probably be talking about the tiger in a similar way to our future generations. Something needs to be done soon to stop the tiger from vanishing from our forests," he said.

"This majestic species is a symbol of India's rich and diverse wildlife heritage. It is in
our best interests to ensure that this magnificent animal is not wiped out."


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