‘Tigers’ Unite at Clemson to Save tigers in the wild

The tiger is one of the most common college mascots in the country. It also is one of the most endangered animals in the wild. Students at Clemson University are calling together their fellow collegiate “tigers” from across the country to a summit April 19-21 to discuss tiger conservation.

The Clemson student organization Tigers for Tigers (T4T) reached out to 57 different colleges that use the tiger as a school mascot to form the National Tigers 4 Tigers Coalition. The coalition now has 13 member schools: Princeton University, Louisiana State University, Auburn University, the University of Missouri, Trinity University, Doane College, Rochester Institute of Technology, Savannah State University, Colorado College, Hampton-Sydney College and SUNY-Cobleskill. Students from those schools will gather at the summit to share ideas and learn from tiger conservation experts.

“Here at Clemson T4T, we believe that we have an obligation to support tigers in the wild, not only because they are our mascot, but also because they face imminent extinction," said Sean Carnell, president of T4T at Clemson.

"If we can develop a way for students across the country to collaborate on a national scale in support of tiger conservation, we can truly make a difference,” he said. “As students, we have access to a plethora of resources that can amplify our efforts. We also wish to provide opportunities for students of all majors to get involved in tiger conservation by gaining real-world experience and becoming inspired to save our beloved mascot.” 

Speakers for the summit include Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Fla., the world’s largest nonprofit accredited rescue facility for exotic cats; Tracy Coppola, campaigns officer for the Big Cats program of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, an organization working to save animals and their habitats in more than 40 countries; John M. Fitzgerald, policy director for the Society of Conservation Biology; and Anjana Gosain, principal trustee of Tiger Trust in India.

“At the summit, we want to develop a strategic plan for the national coalition to undertake initiatives on a national scale in support of tigers and learn about the needs for tiger conservation from tiger experts,” said Carnell, a biological sciences major from Ithaca, N.Y. “With mass and momentum we can truly make a difference in tiger conservation.” 

Carnell said the goal is to make the summit an annual event for the National Tigers for Tigers Coalition. For more information, visit http://www.t4tcoalition.org/.