Julia W's Summer Vacation: 350 and Helping Tigers

Julia W. is our youth correspondent with a big mission: she is doing all she can to raise awareness about our beautiful planet and the people and animals who share it. We are all so lucky to have young people like Jules among us.

She spent some time in India this summer, and here is her wonderful report:

Dear Fellow Mutts fans,

Hello! It’s been a while since I last wrote for muttscomics.com. I am Julia W., the Muttscomics Youth Correspondent, and I would like to tell you a little about my latest trip to India. It was my fifth trip there, and although every trip is always interesting and exciting, this trip was particularly so.

My mom (who works for Sanctuary Asia magazine) and I started off in Delhi, where we attended the Fifth Bengal Tiger Consultation, which was titled “Ecosystems, Climate Change and National Development.” All five of these Bengal tiger consultations have been organized by Sanctuary. The conference was about conserving India’s tigers and forests (of which little remains) and how India can help fight climate change. In the two days of the conference (held in one of the few green areas of Delhi- the Nehru Memorial Library) so much happened.

The morning of the first day more than 2,000 Delhi schoolchildren arrived with their teachers and participated in all kinds of save-the-tiger activities. They also took part in making a human formation of a tiger and the number 350. You are probably wondering, what does 350 mean? 350.org (http://www.350.org/) is a climate change organization run by Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature. The number 350 is significant because that is what scientists have discovered to be the maximum amount (in parts per million- ppm) of carbon in the atmosphere for humans civilizations to survive. Currently there are 390 ppm of carbon in the atmosphere, and this trend must be reversed immediately. Bill McKibben and 350.org are on a mission to inform as many people and governments about the importance of returning to 350 ppm of carbon in the atmosphere. On October 24th of this year, 350.org has organized a global day of climate action, where they are hoping to spread the word to the entire world, and to the governments at the next climate change summit in Copenhagen in December, that we need to not only slow down on our carbon emissions, but reverse them right now.

All during the two days there were meetings and workshops held on such topics as India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests, the wildlife trade, and how India could benefit immensely as a country by protecting its ecosystems. Surprisingly (because you would never see this in America) I was not the only kid there. There were many other Delhi schoolchildren present, and at the workshops themselves, not just outside. Some of them are even members of the Junior Tiger Task Force. It was really terrific to see other kids participating, and asking questions, because this is the world that is going to be left for us, and we deserve to have it protected.

I was really happy to be able to be at the consultation, but I was also glad at the end of the two days when we got to travel to one of India’s national parks, Sariska. After the sheer number of people in Delhi, mile after mile, it was like stepping into another world when we entered Sariska. Even in the buffer area it was greener, cleaner, and incredible to think that all of India used to be like this, could be like this again.

We spent three days in Sariska, and while in the jeep it seemed like a long time, but it was way too short. Sariska National Park is interesting because in 2005, it was finally confirmed that every single tiger in the park had been poached. It was a terrible truth to realize, and a lot needed to be done to find out how it had happened, and how they could keep tigers that they would relocate to Sariska safe. Sadly, not much was done on the front of figuring out how to stop a massacre like that happening again, but a year and a half after the tigers disappeared, three were relocated from a nearby park, Ranthambhore. There is one male and two females, and the forest guards have been instructed on how to use radio telemetry, because the three have been radio-collared to keep them safe. We assumed that we would see a tiger (since they were collared) but sadly we didn’t. The one good thing about that, however, is that even though these tigers have collars on, they are still wild and can choose not to be seen when they want.

We did not see any big cats this trip, but we did see lots of other wildlife in Sariska. During the period of time when the tigers were absent, the prey (especially deer) populations leapt. Driving through the park we saw many herds of chital (spotted deer), groups of sambar deer, and individual nilgai. We saw many peacocks, wild boar, and jackals. At one point we knew we were incredibly close to a tiger because on a hillside next to the road, a jackal was doing its alarm call.

This trip was incredibly rich in so many ways. The consultation was very interesting, and meeting the other kids and talking to them was inspiring. Sariska was so beautiful, and considering what it has gone through it was a privilege seeing it so healthy. There is still so much to be done with dealing with villages inside the park’s boundaries and bringing the tigers back, but the forest itself was looking very alive and green. I hope everyone values the earth that we live on, and sees how very precious it is, and does everything in their power to protect it and the fellow animals we live with. Because by protecting where we live and who we live with, we’re protecting ourselves.

Your friend,
Julia W.