San Francisco/Singapore – Discovery Communications announced a historic partnership with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) through which Discovery will fund and help conserve nearly 1 million acres of protected habitat in India and Bhutan to protect and increase the wild tiger population.
David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery Communications, who made the announcement says, “Discovery is a purpose-driven company, and for more than 30 years we’ve had cameras in every corner of the globe, from PLANET EARTH to RACING EXTINCTION, documenting and inspiring audiences about the beauty and splendour of our planet. Unfortunately, our cameras also have captured the fragile state of much of the world and its animals. So today we take a bold step further, beyond the lens, to protect one of our most iconic and endangered species. Not on our watch will we let these beautiful animals disappear from the world. We will shine a light on this compelling cause and amplify it through our global brands and platforms with the goal of doubling the wild tiger population by 2022.”
In the last century alone, the wild tiger population has dropped an astonishing 96%, to less than 4,000 left in the wild due to habitat loss and pervasive poaching. Given ample space, prey and protection from poaching, tiger populations can rebound. Discovery’s sponsorship of this transboundary landscape in which World Wildlife Fund has been a conservation partner with the governments of India and Bhutan, will allow rangers to more closely monitor tiger health and other key scientific data, take additional anti-poaching safeguards, and maintain land and corridors to improve movement of all wild animals.
Along with sponsorship of the habitat, Discovery will leverage its formidable creative capabilities and unmatched global multiplatform distribution of channels to 3 billion cumulative worldwide viewers to support WWF’s Tx2 effort, which began in 2010, to double the population of wild tigers across the world by 2022, the next Year of the Tiger. Discovery will create original public service announcements and in-program content tied to Project C.A.T. to drive awareness and encourage viewers around the globe to take action to support wild tigers. Reinforcing its commitment, Discovery has put into development a new documentary on tigers from Orlando von Einsiedel’s Grain Media.
