Bollywood, cricket stars join 'Save The Tiger' campaign

New Delhi, March 7 (IANS) Bollywood stars Kajol, Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta have come forward to support the 'Save The Tiger' campaign that was launched two weeks ago.

Aimed at stopping the alarming decline in the number of tigers in the country, TV channel NDTV and Sanctuary Asia Magazine have joined hands to collect one million signatures to represent the voice of the people and convey it to the government.

These signatures will be presented to the central and state governments, demanding that they take stringent steps towards saving the national animal.

A brigade of stars that includes Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, John Abraham, Kajol, Kareena Kapoor, Preity Zinta and Farhan Akhtar is supporting the movement.

Other celebrities like cricketer Rahul Dravid, Rajyavardhan Rathore, environmentalists and conservationists like Bittu Sahgal, editor of Sanctuary Magazine and the Kids for Tiger Group are also backing the campaign.

The latest census by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) earlier this month revealed that there were only an estimated 1,411 tigers left in the wild in India today, less than half the number found in the 2002 census.

People from all walks of life will March 9 gather at India Gate in Delhi between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. to sign a petition to save the tiger, a statement by NDTV said.

The channel is also conducting SMS polls and online petitions to reach out to as many people as possible.

The campaign urges Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to hold an emergency meeting of the National Board for Wildlife to consider the threat to the tiger and chief ministers of every state to establish a protection force for tigers.

It also asks for upgradation of forest guards to the level of police officials with better compensation, and setting up of an improved intelligence network that is critical to crack poaching.