How Tigers For Tigers and I Got a Good Start at Clemson

 

By Takako Sato,

Wildlife and Fisheries Biology 2001

 

 

I never thought I was making history when I was a student, helping start the Tigers for Tigers movement.  Looking back now after 17 years, though, I can see the actions I took then helped to create something BIG! Individual contributions made Tigers for Tigers what it is today and I hope we can continue to channel our passion into action - for the sake of saving wildlife around the world!

 

In 1997, I was a sophomore majoring in Wildlife Biology and also the President of “Students for Environmental Awareness ” (SEA, now called “Students for Environmental Action”). Conn Davidenko, an Animal and Veterinary Sciences major, enlisted SEA in his dream to start a club called “Tigers for Tigers.” He had an experience first-hand with a tiger which inspired him to take action. He made us aware that tigers were endangered throughout the world, and that we as Clemson tigers could be their best voice in the USA.  Conn had a grand vision to bring in other Tiger schools and create a national organization and, right out of the gate, he got approval from the Provost to send himself and me to the International Year of the Tiger Conference in Dallas, Texas in the spring of 1998, to kick-start our networking efforts for the new club.

 

It was an eye-opening experience to sit in the same room with experts from around the world, where discussions about conservation efforts were translated into three different languages. It sparked in me the dream to work in international conservation.  I worked hard afterwards to get into the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) Student Career Experience Program and, as soon as I graduated in 2001, I started working for them full time.  

 

Created by Conn Davidenko in 1997 and with the support of SEA and its faculty advisor, Dr. David Tonkyn, Tigers for Tigers became a very active student movement and soon an independent student club.  One of the early T4T Presidents, Quyen Nguyen, even went to Vietnam for a summer to learn about tiger conservation efforts there.  In 2003 we hosted a five day visit including an Earth Day lecture by Mr. Pradeep Sankhala, Director of Tiger Trust India.  His father Shri Kailash Sankhala had created India’s tiger reserves at the request of Prime Minister Gandhi, and served as the first Director of Project Tiger.  Pradeep continued his father’s efforts and invited us to India to learn about tiger conservation first-hand. Dr. Tonkyn and Louis Bregger, Director of International Student Programs at Clemson, offered a new course the very next year on Indian Biodiversity and Conservation that included travel over spring break to India’s tiger reserves.  Little did we know that it would continue for the next 10 years! (Editorial note: Trip 11 is now being planned!)  They have introduced 100s of Clemson students to India and taught them about the conservation challenges there.

 

After graduation, I kept in touch with Dr. Tonkyn, and he invited me to join one of the trips so, in 2006, I went to India for the first time. There, we saw beautiful forests and many wild tigers up close! I could sense the fire burning in the wild tigress’s eyes as she was saying to me “leave me alone,” but I knew her survival depended on us humans – that she still needed us to take action and make a change so that she could survive in the wild. When I attended the tiger conference in 1998 estimates for wild tigers worldwide was 7,500. Today that number has dropped to 3,200 and, at this rate, they could disappear from the wild in a few more decades. Seeing the challenges that tigers face in the wild changed my life.

 

T4T has been working with Tiger Trust India since Pradeep Sankhala’s visit to Clemson in 2003. Ms. Anjana Gosain, a prominent Delhi attorney, took over the leadership the next year, and I invited her to Washington, DC and introduced her FWS’ International Affairs Office, with Dr. Tonkyn and several T4T Presidents there for support.  After that, I began writing grants for Tiger Trust India, translating Anjana’s tireless efforts into proposals, and we have been able to get FWS funding since 2007 for her anti-poaching programs in India’s tiger reserves. In addition, because of my own FWS experience working with endangered Florida wildlife including manatees, whooping cranes, sea turtles, and Florida panthers, as well as supporting local and national programs, I could offer some advice for implementing projects and education programs in India.