Every year on July 29, Global Tiger Day is celebrated to raise awareness for tiger conservation.

At the Richmond Football Club we are proud of the continuing work we do to save wild tigers through our partnership with WWF-Australia.

With WWF-Australia as our official conservation partner, we are committed to tiger conservation and helping to stop these magnificent creatures from becoming extinct.    

Since the Richmond Football Club was founded in 1885, 95% of the world’s wild tiger population has disappeared. There are currently less than 4,000 tigers left in the wild due to the impacts of poaching, habitat loss and the illegal wildlife trade.

The Club and WWF-Australia came together in 2018 and have seen player ambassadors Nick Vlastuin, Jack Graham and Toby Nankervis travel to both Sumatra and India, to learn about the challenges facing wild tigers and the work WWF are doing in these landscapes to increase numbers. 

“It’s inspiring to see the work on the ground and the commitment to tiger conservation that the WWF teams have. As Richmond players we hope we can help raise awareness and funds to help them continue their great work and ultimately help save wild tigers.” Vlastuin said.

“It has also been rewarding to see the commitment of some of our club coterie members who have funded a Tiger Patrol Unit (TPU) in Southeast Malaysia.”

For the 2nd year Richmond coterie members Craig and Jenni Weinert, Michelle and Aaron Thomas, Russell Telford, Tina Walker, Cameron Dunn and Spiro Nikolakakis have funded support for a Tiger Patrol Unit (TPU) in Southeast Malaysia.

The Tiger Patrol Unit employs indigenous Orang-Asli villagers to work in the Malaysian jungle to destroy tiger snares and poacher’s huts and to monitor tiger movements throughout the region. Poachers have largely been responsible for a 50% reduction in tiger numbers in Belum State Park over the past 10 years, and TPU’s have proven to be a critical tool in disrupting poachers activity.  The patrol units are backed by training, technical expertise and tiger biologists from WWF-Malaysia.  Recent patrol monitoring found no active poachers snares and the patrol unit actually came across a tiger in what was a very rare but promising occurrence.

WWF’s Dr Ashley Brooks, who lead both Richmond overseas expeditions, was reflective on Global Tiger Day and of the current tiger landscape.

“Tigers are having mixed fortunes in the wild. In Nepal, India, Bhutan, and Russia, tiger recovery continues with great success and numbers are increasing. However, across Southeast Asia, tiger numbers continue to decline. The situation is especially critical in Sumatra, Indonesia, Myanmar and Malaysia. This is why the partnership between WWF and Richmond Football Club is so critical, as the target site for RFC support is in one of the last strongholds of tigers on the Malaysian Peninsula.”

Successful tiger recovery across the sub-continent, China and Russia, gives us hope that with the right ingredients, and the continuation of awareness raised by the Richmond Football Club to support WWF, we can play our part to ensure tigers remain in the wild long into the future.