Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh has initiated a save the tiger campaign here to spread awareness about its declining numbers.
Singh praised the school children who took part in a friendly cricket match.
He stressed on the need to have more campaigns, and added that everyone must assume responsibility to save tigers and the jungles.
"It is our responsibility, being part of society, to understand what wildlife is all about and what sort of things need to be done. I really take this initiative and I want to take this forward with support from you," Singh said.
The 'Turbanator' also praised Karnataka forest officials for protecting tigers despite being shot and injured twice by poachers in the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve.
Poaching and the loss of habitat has resulted in the decline in the number of tigers in the country.
According to Wildlife Protection Society of India statistics, 84 tigers died in 2009-10.
The 2008 census recorded 1411 tigers, wildlife experts warned that tigers could become extinct in 20 years.
Conservationists say that despite a ban on the use of tiger body parts in medicines and the trading in skin and bones in China, everything from fur, whiskers, eyeballs and bones are in great demand.
