Save Vanishing Species Stamp Won't Go Extinct

On Monday, September 8^th 2014 Congress kept the Save Vanishing Species Stamp alive! After a brief halt with the stamp last Fall, Senate bill S.231 passed through the House of Representatives. The bill has been placed on the President’s desk and will be signed into law at any moment!

Since its induction in 2011, the Save Vanishing Species Stamp has raised over $2.5 million towards conservation efforts to help save tigers, African and Asian elephants, rhinos, great apes, and marine turtles. The stamp sells for 55 cents a piece, with 9 cents going towards the Multinational Conservation Species Fund that saves these animals.

Money raised by the stamp has gone to grants that have supported conservation efforts in over 30 countries through 47 different projects! These efforts include on-the-ground hiring and training of anti-poaching units, educating communities on wildlife crime prevention, and more. With less than 3,200 tigers remaining in the wild today, programs like this give us hope for the future of our mascot. 

The National Tigers for Tigers Coalition has worked this past year to push for reauthorization of the stamp, and because of your support even more projects will be implemented to save the tiger from extinction. Through our #SavetheStamp campaign this past Summer, several letters were sent out on YOUR behalf! This just goes to show the kind of positive impact you can have in making a difference in the conservation world. We still need your help to #SaveourMascot now more than ever. If you’d like to keep up with what we are doing be sure to LIKE us on Facebook here and FOLLOW us on Twitter here.  A huge thank you to everyone who helped to make this happen! Go Tigers!

Carrah Lingo
Communications Associate
National Tigers for Tigers Coalition

Write a Letter -> Buy a Stamp -> Save Endangered Species

In 2011, the U.S. Postal Service issued the Save Vanishing Species Semi-postal Stamp, which provided crucial funding to support international conservation efforts for endangered species.  

Citizens have voluntarily purchased more than 25 million stamps in less than 2 years, providing almost $2.5M to support projects by the US Fish and Wildlife Service for tigers, elephants, rhinos, great apes, and marine turtles.

Unfortunately, after December 2013, the U.S. Postal Service discontinued the sale and distribution of the stamp.

So what’s the big deal?

77 million unsold stamps still remain in post offices across the country which equates to about $7M in potential conservation dollars, if the U.S. Postal Service does not destroy the stamp. Why let those stamps go to waste due to government inaction?

The money raised from the stamp helps to finance the hiring and training of anti-poaching units, to provide logistical and technical aid to protected area managers, and to educate targeted groups on natural resource extraction and prevention of wildlife crimes. Why would we want to cut that success short?

The support this stamp has received so far serves as a testament to just how much the American public cares about saving species threatened with extinction. Additionally, this stamp puts much-needed funds in the hands of those who are best qualified to address this crisis and requires no federal funding.

Why does this matter if you are in a Tigers for Tigers club or attend a tiger mascot school?

The tiger is the history and legacy of our institutions and we take great pride in our mascot. The stamp provided us with an opportunity to make a difference. Many Tigers for Tigers clubs across the country got their university and local post offices to carry the Save Vanishing Species Stamp. This provided opportunities for university students, faculty, staff, alumni and tiger fans to participate in international conservation efforts to save our mascot.

Now there is an opportunity for us to raise our voice and seek re-authorization of the Save Vanishing Species Stamp.

Save our mascot. Write a letter to Senator Tom Carper of Delaware

Please join the National Tigers for Tigers Coalition in bringing the plight of tigers to the forefront of public awareness to rally financial support for their conservation. By endorsing the re-authorization of the Save Vanishing Species Stamp, you would be doing just that. 

Click here to download our letter to send to Senator Carper, who can make a difference in Congress. 

Where do we send the letter? Here is the address:

Senator Tom Carper

United States Senate

513 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

For more information about the Save Vanishing Species Stamp, please visit www.tigerstamp.com

We sincerely thank you for all of your support and efforts.

All the best,

The National Tigers for Tigers Coalition

Welcome to the National Tigers for Tigers Coalition!

Blog #1: June, 2013

Chelsea Connor with Doc, Towson MD

Welcome! My name is Chelsea Connor and I joined Tigers for Tigers (T4T) this year when I participated in the first National Tigers for Tigers Coalition in April. I am from Towson University, home of our tiger mascot Doc, as a pre-vet and animal behavior major. I was thrilled when another pre-vet major, and friend of mine, told me about T4T. Being in South Carolina to see other schools and students so excited to get involved was empowering and really confirmed my reasons for wanting to help save animals. Plus, being a proud Towson Tiger myself, I felt some responsibility to help our tiger mascot Doc during his time of need just like his has lifted my spirits at games. I mean, I don’t just paint tiger stripes on my face, wear black and gold or roar the fiercest roar I can manage for nothing. I do it, because the tiger symbolizes more than a mascot to me, it symbolizes a sense of being. We show pride, a majestic presence and respect towards our fellow competitors, but we also work hard to show our fierce teeth and our loud roar so our challengers know who’s going to win in the end. So I’m here because I owe it to my mascot, my school and myself to repay the honor of being a tiger every day. If we don’t fight for them, who will? Just like the tiger we are beautiful, powerful, and brave and we will earn our stripes.

"Real Life, Real Learning", Cobleskill, NY

My name is Kevin O’Day. I joined NT4TC earlier this year as a freshman at SUNY Cobleskill. For as long as I can remember, I have always loved big cats. In fact, I chose to attend Cobleskill because it has a tiger as a mascot, even before I knew about NT4TC. The coalition is important to me because it allows me to help save endangered wildlife while still in college. All species have the right to exist but saving tigers is especially important because they are so critically important to the ecological and cultural health of Asia and the world. I believe that if we as a species are unable to save tigers from extinction, we will have little hope of solving any of the problems that face us in the future and that NT4TC will be successful if we are able to motivate and mobilize the youth to take charge of their future and save this magnificent species. In order to expand the coalition I will be establishing a Tigers 4 Tigers Club at Cobleskill next semester.

The National Tigers for Tigers Coalition is a student led organization dedicated to the existence of our majestic, but endangered mascot, the tiger. Currently, we are formed from a collaboration of student groups of 12 tiger mascot colleges and universities from across the country with more to add. Through education, outreach and international programs, Tigers for Tigers works to utilize the power, creativity, and motivation of college students. The collaborative effort of the National Tigers for Tigers Coalition is focused on developing initiatives that reach a national scale to save the tiger from extinction.

This week 12 members of the National Tigers 4 Tigers Coalition went to Washington D.C. on June 12^th and 13^th, where we met with staff of congressmen and lobbied for the passage of the Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act (H.R.1998), which would ban private ownership of big cats throughout America. We also lobbied for the transference of $50 million from the State Department, USAID to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to tackle the poaching crisis that is threatening the current existence of the tigers. Lastly, we advocated for the re-authorization of the Save Vanishing Species Stamp, which brings additional money into the USFWS to support endangered species protection efforts.



Meeting with Missouri's Legislative Assistant

One of the surprising facts that we learned during our trip was that the wildlife trade is a significant threat to the security of nations around the globe. Rhino horn is the most valuable substance on the planet followed by tiger bone, and elephant ivory. Together, these items are being used to fund terrorist organizations. With huge price tags on these wild animals, drug, arms or terrorist syndicates have prepared and trained poachers to do their dirty work, showing us how easy it is to kill even with law enforcement officials protecting the area. Clearly, there is a need for more officers who are trained, prepared and aware of the situation to even the playing field. Until then, when these terrorist organizations get tiger parts, rhino horn or ivory in their hands they sell it to Chinese markets in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars that can be used to fund attacks on America or other countries across the world. One example of this is Al Qaeda in North Africa, which is funded largely through elephant ivory.

Meeting with Louisiana's Legislative Assistant

Photo with Senator Tim Scott, South Carolina

Do not let these unfortunate facts get the best of you though. While in D.C., the congressmen seemed very receptive to the idea of a bipartisan vote for the protection of tigers and we are likely going to be returning next month to talk with more congressmen for more support. You can also help us out by writing your own tiger letter to let your congressmen know about this dire situation! Remember your congressmen works for you! So let him or her know what is important to you. We can only save the tiger with your help, your friend’s help, your family’s help and even your pet cat Fluffy’s help. To get more involved, join us on facebook and follow us on twitter to learn more about this issue. Our website also contains information on tigers, awareness and involvement that you can easily access to answer any questions you have. Together we can be a more powerful force than the poachers could ever be. But in order for that to happen we need to stick together, spread the word, write to our congressmen and continue to fight for the most majestic animal in the Asian forests.

Save the Tigers,

Chelsea L. Connor (Towson University, MD)

Kevin O’Day (SUNY Cobleskill, NY)

National Tigers for Tigers Coalition