I am excited to share the proceedings of the 2nd
Annual Summit of the National Tigers for Tigers Coalition on April 4-6, 2014
with you all! Representatives from nine T4T schools across the nation,
including Louisiana State University, Clemson University, Trinity University, Colorado
College, Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY-Cobleskill, Towson University,
the University of South Carolina, and the University of Missouri joined
together in Columbia, MO to discuss how to build successful Tigers for Tigers
clubs, promote education and awareness initiatives, build local partnerships
with zoos and sanctuaries, and support
policy reform efforts.
Over the course of the weekend, we enjoyed presentations
from five distinguished speakers. Tracy Coppola, the Campaigns Officer for the
International Fund for Animal Welfare, talked to us about the progress of the
Big Cat and Public Safety Protection Act (H.R. 1998/S.1381), and what we can do
to raise awareness about the bill and lend our support. Saturday morning we had
a presentation by Dr. Tara Harris, the Minnesota Zoo Director of Conservation
and Tiger Species Survival Plan (SSP). Dr. Harris reminded us of the great work
of the late Dr. Ron Tilson, who spoke at last year’s summit, and talked about
the status of zoo tigers. She also explained to us how zoos are working to
ensure the success of wild populations of tigers. I encourage you to look into
the Tiger Conservation
Campaign, which was recently launched by the Tiger SSP to raise awareness
about the plight of wild tigers, as well as funds for conservation efforts.
I would also like to
recognize our honorary guests who were in attendance at the event. Many of these
individuals participated in our workshops and shared their perspectives on how
we can be more impactful as an organization.
·
Mike Crocker, Director of
Dickerson Park Zoo
·
Jeri Wright, Program
Coordinator and Keeper at Crown Ridge Tiger Sanctuary
·
Caroline Aldenderfer,
Keeper at Crown Ridge Tiger Sanctuary
·
Valerie Conaway, Keeper at
Crown Ridge Tiger Sanctuary
·
Bonnie Glover, Promotions/Education Program Coordinator at
Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge
·
Bill Nimmo, Tigers in
America
·
Aryuna Radnaeva, Coordinator of the Center for
Development of Ecological and Social Projects in Moscow
·
Lyubov Volkova, Lecturer in
Ecological Management at St. Petersburg State Economics University
·
Anna Zavadskaya, Staff
Scientist at Kronotsky Nature Reserve in the Russian Far East
·
Dr. Leslie Lyons, Cat
Geneticist at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine
·
Bruce Loewenberg, Member of
the MU Alumni Association
·
Gale Douglas, Member of the
MU Alumni Association
A huge thank you to all of
these individuals! I would also like to thank our donors: the National Wildlife
Refuge Association, the MU School of Natural Resources, the MU Animal Science
Department, the Ag Endowment Fund, the MU Organization Resource Group, Mr.
Bruce Loewenberg, and Hy-Vee. We couldn’t have made this happen without their help.
Our break-out workshops
were very successful this year. We had four groups discussing local T4T
efforts, local relationships with organizations, education and awareness
initiatives, and policy and legislation, as well as a fifth workshop for the
steering committee. The results of the weekend are very encouraging! The Local
T4T Efforts group discussed reasons to fundraise, how to get publicity for a
fundraising event, types of fundraisers, and individual club goals. In regards
to building stronger T4T clubs, they discussed the importance of regular
meetings and how best to carry out those meetings, as well as recruitment,
social and service activities, education programs, record-keeping, and officer
positions. Lastly, they discussed methods to increase communication between
clubs, highlighting the importance of the liaison position, a newsletter, and
other methods of communication.
The local relationships
group discussed how to build relationships within our universities as well as
with zoos and sanctuaries. We wish to work effectively with our school’s alumni
associations to raise funds locally and support our partners. T4T clubs also wish
to support students in research and
internships, as this would provide us with more international opportunities and
university support. . As our
universities move towards becoming more ecosystem friendly, we can work with
our schools to increase the focus on mascot conservation. Perhaps the most
exciting conversation to come out of this group involved creating a tiger
mascot video using each school’s mascot. This video would be released on Global
Tiger Day and would feature popular and diverse individuals within our schools
who would stand up for tiger conservation.
The education and awareness
group focused on public educational programs at individual schools, our
Facebook Education Initiative, the Tiger Skit, and a week of tiger awareness at
each T4T school. The action plan for this group includes setting a date for
tiger awareness week in the fall, beginning plans for school events, filming
individual school videos for a Public Service Announcement, creating a list of
recommended zoos and sanctuaries along with the assistance of our partners,
implementing individual school education programs, and increasing activity in
the Facebook Education Initiative. We hope this will increase our outreach
through various media sources.
The policy & legislation
group set goals for the next year. In regards to the Big Cat and Public Safety
Protection Act, we hope to have more letter writing campaigns both as a national
coalition and as individual schools. One thing that is important is that these
letters include a personal voice. Why are we as individuals interested in this
act? Why do we care? Why does it matter to us as individuals as opposed to an
organization? Another idea is to partner with sanctuaries and AZA zoos to send
joint letters of support. Other important outcomes of this workshop include
methods of improving campus involvement in policies that promote tiger
conservation and the welfare of captive tigers. We hope to have an event on
Global Tiger Day in which we all submit letters to Congress in order to draw
attention to this issue. We wish to continue our support for the Administration’s
National Strategy on Combating Wildlife Trafficking. The steering committee focused on our
successes as we have developed this organization. For
example, the steering committee has grown as the number of schools involved has
increased. We have also been successful in sharing and utilizing ideas, and our
Education Initiative on Facebook has generated a considerable amount of
attention from NT4TC members. Some challenges we hope to address are the
difficulties of finding an efficient way for us all to participate in steering
committee meetings, increasing transparency between clubs, the steering
committee, and the National Coordinator, and defining clear objectives for what
we wish to accomplish in set time periods. The steering committee successfully
drafted an accountability policy and set short term and long term goals.
It took a lot of work to
put this event together, but I believe it was successful and that our
participants learned a lot and enjoyed themselves. I am extremely excited to
see where the NT4TC goes from here! I hope we continue to grow in number and
influence and that one day all 56 tiger mascot schools will participate. We are
already a force to be reckoned with, and I look forward to seeing the plans we
came up with during the summit come to fruition. Thank you for reading this
entry! Go tigers!
Best,
Rhiannon Koehler
University of Missouri
Tigers for Tigers
Vice President
For more information about
the National Tigers for Tigers Coalition, please visit us on our website or on Facebook or Twitter.
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