Progress has been made! Having delivered our www.bantigertrade.com petition by hand to the Chinese Embassy in London; news from the recent meeting of officials at the 62^nd Meeting of the Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) has meant putting pressure on governments to act NOW is incredibly relevant.

This recent CITES meeting produced an uproar when China rejected the call for the closure of tiger farms and asked for “evidence that tiger farms encourage poaching of wild tigers”. Although China banned the trade of tiger bone for medicinal use in 1993, the illegal trade continues and large-scale commercial breeding of tigers is booming with over 5,000 tigers in 20 farms in China.

The UK (representing the EU) and India pushed for countries to report on the phasing out of tiger farms and their stocks of tiger products. This was eagerly debated with the final decision agreeing that countries with intensive tiger breeding operations must report on the number of tigers and tiger farms. They must also declare the stockpiles of captive-bred or confiscated tiger parts and propose an action on how these will be secured or destroyed.

TigerTime hope that this decision is one small step for man, but one giant leap for the wild tiger.

Over 123,500 of you have now put your name to our petition where you have URGED the Chinese government to END the trade in tiger parts. What we want to see is a ban on ALL trade of ALL tiger parts from ANY source with a ZERO tolerance policy.

Thanks to your generous donations, we were able to fund undercover operations and send Debbie Banks (EIA) to the CITES convention to put pressure on the Chinese government. Please help us continue to keep these investigations and our tiger protection programmes running by donating here.

Celebrity supporter Nigel Barker states, “We live in a wonderful and extraordinary yet fragile world. The concept that we could witness the extinction of any animal during our lifetime, should make us all stop and take action. The fact that it is the mightiest and most alluring only makes the situation more grave. The good news is that we can stop it, but only if we do something about it. This is our beautiful world, let’s treat it with the respect and honour it deserves. So for the tiger in every one of us, please roar as loudly as you can until we save this magnificent cat.”

Follow Nigel’s plea and help us by signing www.bantigertrade.com. This will help us put further pressure on governments to END the tiger trade and enforce this CITES ruling. People power is building and causing a stir – Let’s keep it growing!
We will keep you informed on any further progress.

Kind regards,

Chantelle Henderson

TigerTime Campaign Coordinator

www.tigertime.info – @TigerTimeNow

After losing her legs while shielding her two children from a deadly tornado this spring, Stephanie Decker deserves a special Mother’s Day.

Decker, her husband Joe, and their two children flew to New York for a week of fun and pampering. First up: seeing the musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” which was a big hit with 6-year-old Reese and 8-year-old Dominic, as well as their parents.

Then Stephanie and her family got to enjoy a day of pampering, topped off by a super-glam photo shoot, organized by style and beauty expert Mary Alice Stephenson and photographed by Nigel Barker of “America’s Next Top Model.” They all got to take in a Yankees game. And since she lost her wedding ring (along with her house and most of her family’s possessions) in the 175-mph tornado, husband Joe gave her a new one.

“That’s a whopper!” TODAY’s Ann Curry cried, admiring the very sparkly new ring.

Take me out to the ballgame…

“I think she earned it,” Joe said. “She’s my hero. I love her greatly.”

Reese told Curry that she knows what her mom did for her and her brother. “I like that she took care of us,” she said. “She loves us, and I love her too.”

Though Stephanie enjoyed the glam life and certainly loved her new ring, she told TODAY Moms the biggest highlight of the week for her was actually going to a New York Yankees game. She and her family are huge Yankees fans, so meeting some of the players was a thrill.

The highlight of the week for Stephanie? Watching her kids meet their baseball heroes on the Yankees.

“They gave us such a warm welcome, and they took the time to talk to our kids,” Decker said backstage at TODAY. “That meant a lot.”

One of her first goals after getting out of the hospital was to attend her son’s baseball games (her husband is also a baseball coach). She was able to do that, and even got to throw out the first pitch at a University of Louisville baseball game. So watching her children meet their baseball heroes was a fitting gift for this mom on Mother’s Day.

All along, Stephanie has said she just acted on instinct and did what any mother would do to protect her children. And her words to other moms this Mother’s Day are simply to follow that instinct: “Just take care of your child. Most mothers out there protect them just like I did. Take care of them. Hold them close.”

Indiana mom Stephanie Decker says she simply acted on instinct when a deadly tornado struck on March 2. As her home was ripped to shreds, she threw a blanket over her two children and lay on top of them, shielding them with her body as debris rained down. They emerged without a scratch; Stephanie lost one leg below the knee and the other leg above the knee.

She has blogged for TODAY Moms as she made her way through surgeries, rehab, and finally home, where she recently celebrated her daughter’s 6th birthday and got her first prosthetic foot. TODAY brought Stephanie to New York this week for a Mother’s Day surprise. She knew something was up, but she had no idea what! Here’s what Stephanie wrote for us earlier this week.

This is such an exciting week for us as we head to NYC! We are still so completely overwhelmed at the support from our friends, family and our newfound friends all over the world!! We will be eternally grateful for everything that has been done for us! I love and have read all the notes and cards mailed to me and I am inspired by all of your kind words!

Our first night in New York was fabulous! Took the kids to see Spiderman and it was incredible. What an enthralling show and the kids are mesmerized! Looking forward to day #2. However, it is filled with surprises that I am being kept in the dark about!! I wonder what NBC has up their sleeve? More to come on our journey… and I will fill you in on today’s surprises

Find out about Stephanie Decker’s fund for tornado victims, the Stephanie Decker Foundation. Read more about Stephanie Decker’s amazing story, in her own words:

Just this morning off the coast of Newfoundland, I witnessed baby seals clubbed, shot, and skinned, and it broke my heart. There was nothing — not one thing — I could do to stop it.

These baby seals on the ice today never had a chance. They’re threatened at every turn — even their ice habitat is melting out from under them.

Still, the Canadian government has authorized sealers to slaughter up to 400,000 survivors this year — all for their fur in the name of “fashion.”

This massacre has to end. We have to end it. Please, help me end the seal slaughter by making an emergency donation to protect seals. Click to Donate!

Your emergency donation today keeps us on the ice so we can report on the fate of these beautiful animals, and it will keep us fighting all year long to stop this senseless killing once and for all.

Thanks to the global outcry of millions of people like you, we’re closer than ever to ending the slaughter. Demand for seal products is rapidly diminishing — most recently, Russia has banned the trade in harp seal pelts, and Canada’s largest seal fur purchaser has stopped buying seal products.

We’re making tremendous progress in this campaign. But sadly, baby seals are still dying. With your emergency gift today, we won’t stop fighting until peace has been restored to the ice floes for good.

Thank you for all your support.

Rebecca Aldworth
Director of Canadian Wildlife Issues
The Humane Society of the United States