TigerTime now is a campaign established by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation and it is a key player among charities fighting to protect and save tigers in the wild. The campaign involves raising awareness and funds — with the help of events, fundraising auctions, education programmes, animal adoption packages and an ever-growing online presence — highlighting the key issues that need to be tackled.
At the centre of the campaign is the aim to fund conservation projects around the world, most notably in Russia, India and Thailand and to urgently ban the illegal trade of tigers; their bones; skins and body parts.
It’s main website, which contains vital information and education tools, is tigertime.info and is managed by Vicky Flynn, a passionate advocate for tigers.
As one of its many official supporters, my role is to lend my voice to the campaign; raising awareness of its cause, and contributing by raising funds to help its mission in preventing the rapid decline of the species and ensuring that the tiger does not face extinction at the hands of those who seek to make profit from tiger parts or by using these endangered animals for entertainment, particularly for tourism ventures.
The exploitation of tigers for tourism purposes is far-reaching, including anything from circuses to the ‘selfie’ culture; a running trend of putting these animals under poor conditions through which they can be forced into use as props for tourists and photos.
The campaign is on a mission to put a stop to these crimes against the tiger.
TigerTime now conservation projects also look to successfully bring these animals out of danger; relocating them back into the wild, or housing them in sanctuaries, where they will be safer and out of harm’s way from hunters and profiteers.
I loved tigers growing up as a kid, and I’ve always had a fascination with nature and animals, stemming from watching David Attenborough documentaries in complete awe, trips to zoos or coming across wildlife out and about. But my love for the tiger truly came to fruition once I became more aware of humanity’s affect on them, and becoming more informed about how some people in the world treat them as nothing more than trophies or trade deals.
This really startled me and I just could not fathom how, in a world of such beauty, awe and wonder, humans could dismantle their existence and bring themselves to kill such fiercely majestic, wonderous creatures. It was heartbreaking and it hit me hard, and so I knew that I had to do something about it, no matter what means I had to do so. This truly encouraged me to seek out others who shared the same passion.
I came across TigerTime now and I reached out to them so that I too could be involved and contribute to their mission by any means necessary. My recent involvement includes raising funds through pieces of artwork, where TigerTime supporters, including myself, were tasked to create a piece of art to be auctioned off for their annual ‘Stars and Stripes’ charity auction; which took place both online and at the Mall Galleries in London.
My further involvement and plans at this present time will include more fundraising and being a continued voice for the campaign. I urge anyone with an equal passion for animals to join our campaign in saving the tiger from extinction by signing up here. For me, a world where tigers do not exist, where they are taught only as an extinct animal existing only in pictures, is incomprehensible.
Christopher Marsh is a British theatre, television and film actor, passionate about supporting the conservation and welfare of global wildlife. He has leant his time and voice to the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation’s ‘TigerTime now’ campaign to help save and protect the tiger through preventing their rapid decline and ending illegal trade. Christopher is also a proud member of Chickenshed Theatre Company in North London, UK and is currently involved with the company’s Young Creator’s programme in ‘Devising and Performance’. To find out more about Christopher’s professional and campaign work, visit: https://www.facebook.com/chrismjmarsh/
