Delhi Capitals and Shreyas Iyer pledge to win for Tigers on Global Tiger Day

Delhi Capitals' Captain and Indian Cricket Team's middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer spoke about the importance of the campaign. "India is home to around 70% of the world's wild tiger population, and it gives me great joy to be a part of such a strong campaign which aims at saving our tigers. With tigers being such a huge part of our identity as a franchise, all of us at Delhi Capitals are delighted to be joining hands with WWF India to 'Win for Tigers' and 'Win with Tigers' to mark this Global Tiger Day. As responsible citizens, it is our duty to ensure conversations around tiger conservation are encouraged, and I would like to request everyone to come forward to support the campaign and contribute to WWF India's work in protecting our tigers in the wild," he said.

WWF India has been working to further tiger conservation in the country for almost five decades now through securing tiger habitats in India, increasing the involvement of local communities as stewards of conservation and through the “Bagh Mitras” programme and supporting research initiatives to protect these big cats from existing and potential threats.

The Bagh Mitras are a group of trained community members who act as first respondents during a negative human-tiger encounter and provide crucial support to the Forest Department, district administration and WWF India. They play a significant role in keeping the animal away from people and preventing injuries and fatalities among the large crowd of onlookers that typically gather in such situations. Tigers dispersing outside the forests is a common phenomenon for any tiger landscape, with areas like Pilibhit witnessing continuous and increasing instances of negative encounters. The Bagh Mitras are from select villages around the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve where such incidents are known to often occur. Being from the local community, they are able to manage the situation on the ground and not allow it to deteriorate and go out of hand.

Speaking on the occasion, Delhi Capitals CEO, Mr. Dhiraj Malhotra said, “Tigers being integral to our team identity and DNA, Delhi Capitals is happy to stand for the cause of tiger conservation in collaboration with WWF India. This cause needs constant momentum and sharing of knowledge and we hope our collective efforts will bring about more awareness and participation towards the cause of securing our tigers.”  

Mr. Ravi Singh, Secretary-General and CEO, WWF India added, “Tigers embody power, agility and grace, traits valued by sportspersons across the world. It gives us great pleasure to see this iconic big cat now represented on the field by Delhi Capitals. We are confident that this partnership with Delhi Capitals will take the message of tiger conservation to a larger audience, inspiring them to further the cause of protecting our national animal and its habitats.”

Delhi Capitals looks forward to motivating their community of fans to support the Bagh Mitras, WWF India and their conversation initiatives by enabling awareness and participation. This campaign was initiated today, with a special video capturing the collective spirit of the Tiger represented by the Delhi Capitals players.

Delhi Capitals looks forward to effectively use their voice to further spread awareness and conversations to champion the cause of tiger conservation.