August 2005 Local Businessmen join foundation

LOCAL BUSINESSMEN JOIN FOUNDATION IN AN ATTEMPT TO SAVE THE LAST REMAINING TIGERS IN THE WORLD.




Businessmen from Poole, in Dorset, have joined the Bill Jordan Foundation and generously donated £17,000 in an attempt to save the last remaining Tigers in Nepal from extinction.

The Bill Jordan Foundation, based at Canford Cliffs made an urgent appeal last month to the business community for help with a pioneering rehabilitation and release sanctuary for tigers and rhinos in Nepal.

The foundation has an agreement with the Nepalese authorities and has secured land to build the sanctuary within the Royal National Chitwan Park. However, they were told just two weeks ago that unless work commenced at the start of September, the authorities would pull the plug on the operation, meaning certain death of the last remaining tigers.

With less than 100 tigers left in the country, and with possible numbers becoming less than 2,000 in the rest of the world, Adam Murry, Chief executive of the foundation, says experts predict all tigers could be wiped from the face of the planet within the next 18 months. “We believe this project to be the first of its kind in the world, and if successful will provide valuable information for other organisations to follow suit. There are tiger reserves that exist, but these areas protect the tigers that live within their boundaries, and more often than not, do not have the man power to protect them against the ever increasing threat from poachers, ready to sell their skins for coats and rugs, and their bones to be crushed into potions believed to increase the sex drive. What have we become to allow this amazing creature, essential for the balance of our eco-systems, to be driven to extinction for the sake of a rug or an un-necessary and probably useless potion”?


Adam Murry, who draws no salary from his charitable activities and funds most of the projects himself, recruited business associates who each donated £1,700, ensuring the charity has the £17,000 needed to start the work on time. “These very real problems that our world is facing, won’t go away. If we are to provide a safer environment for our future generations, we all have to get involved and stop pretending these problems don’t exist. We have to stop thinking that it will be ok because someone else will do it, stop living for the day and start to ensure the future for our children’s children. The human race is destroying the planet at a catastrophic rate so we all have to start taking responsibility, if we are ever to make the changes towards conservation- probably one of the most important subjects we are now facing - and our fragile eco-systems that these animals maintain. We must all get behind conservation policies and increase pressure on concerned governments to enforce changes in the way we treat the animals and our planet. Our intelligence and capacity to reason does not give us a license to abuse these animals and the earth, but instead gives us a unique responsibility to care for the earth and her creatures before it’s too late”.



The project also has the support of Laura Keegan, daughter of the former England Football captain Kevin Keegan. “I was so honored when asked to be part of the Bill Jordan Foundation in trying to raise money to help these magnificent and beautiful creatures. A Foundation such as this is incredible, everyone involved loves and wants to protect and save the lives of all kinds of animals.I myself love animals and have been brought up with dogs and horses all my life. How anyone could mistreat an animal is beyond me, but with sadness and anger of course we all know it goes on all over the world. Tigers are a particular favourite of mine therefore this project is close to my heart and the reason why I had to get involved. Sometimes it is hard to believe the different ways in which humans think, some feel that killing
tigers and other species is good entertainment whilst other humans try to do everything they can to protect and save them. Many of us watch cruelty to animals on the news or in documentaries but
wonder how we can help make a difference. The Bill Jordan Foundation is a non-profit and non-salary taking charity, so every penny sent goes straight to helping these endangered species as they
can no longer help themselves.

Please do not let tigers be the face of extinction. If hunting is to continue at such a pace, the only way for future generations to observe these exquisite creatures will be in history books...how sad is that?


The charitable benefactors are Nick Aris of Aris Jewellers, Alex Marra of Gossips, Daryl Self of Self Leisure, Josh Simons of Jimmy's Bar & Club, Jeremy Seears of Roberts, Craig Blake of Martin Homes, Dean Hoyland of Compton Builders, Floyd Lewis of Solar Technik, Lee Jackson of BH13 Bar & Restaurant and Ben Nolan of Dynamique web design.