IGZP organises a webinar to celebrate Global Tiger Day in Vizag

Every year, 29 July is celebrated as “Global Tiger Day”, also known as “International Tiger Day” at Vizag Zoo. This year, in view of the occasion, the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park (IGZP), Visakhapatnam, conducted a state-level webinar. The initiative was taken by the IGZP in coordination with the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department. 

The webinar, with the theme being “Tiger Conservation”,  started with opening remarks, and an overview of Global Tiger Day 2021, by Mr. N. Prateep Kumar, IFS, PCCF (HoFF) & PCCF (Wildlife) & Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW), AP. The presentation was followed by other eminent speakers from the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department. They shared their views on how to conserve tigers in the State and also gave video presentations on the works taken up by the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department towards the conservation of tigers. The presentations ended with Dr. Nandani Salaria, IFS, Curator, IGZP playing a video on the Ex-Situ conservation (off-site conservation) of Tigers in IGZP. 

Various dignitaries were present for the webinar. Dr. Dhanunjay Mohan, IFS (Director, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun), Mr. NS. Murli, IFS (IG, NTCA, South Zone, Banglore), Mr. Y. Srinivas Reddy, IFS (Conservator of Forest & Field Director Project Tiger Circle, Srisailam), Mr. Vignesh Appavu G, IFS (DFO, Markapur), Mr. Vineet Kumar, IFS (DFO, Nandyala), and Mr. Imran Siddiqui(Co-Founder, HyTiCoS) took part in the webinar session by Vizag Zoo and celebrated Global Tiger Day. 

Along with the webinar, a quiz & painting competition was also conducted by IGZP on the virtual platform. Around 2,500 participants, from all over the country, took part in the quiz competition. The IGZP also conducted an online painting competition on the theme ‘Tigers and their Habitat’. The drawing competition is still open and requires participants to fit into one of the three categories mentioned (visit www.vizagzoo.com for more details). The participants are requested to send their entries to events.igzp@gmail.com on or before 31 July 2021. 

Mr. Rahul Pandey, IFS, CCF (Wildlife) ended the webinar with a vote of thanks. He thanked the various organisers, dignitaries, and participants for their efforts and time.