Poaching has reduced the number of wild tigers in the world to less than 5,000. The fact that wild tigers are in danger of extinction is little known in Japan, one of the largest markets for poached tigers. In order to communicate this fact widely to the Japanese public, we focused on one of the most popular sports in Japan, baseball, and a professional baseball team, Hanshin Tigers, together with the team’s high-profile manager, Mr. Okada, to support the Tiger Conservation Fund of the Japan Wildlife Conservation Society. Hanshin Tigers, although one of the most popular teams, had never been first ranked in regards to spectator turnout.

The campaign linked the baseball team with the JWCS Tiger Conservation Fund and created a mechanism whereby one poaching patrol kit was sent to India every time Hanshin Tigers won a game. Thus, the campaign succeeded in adding 240 tiger protection rangers while also making an effective appeal for the JWCS Tiger Conservation activities, not just among Hanshin Tigers fans but also among baseball fans throughout the country. At the same time, the Hanshin Tigers became the most popular baseball team in Japan. When the campaign became well known in 2008, we conducted an event called Tiger Conservation Day at the Tigers Home Ground, on August 27th of 2008.

A unique mechanism was created at the beginning of the baseball season whereby one poaching patrol kit was sent to India for every game that Hanshin Tigers won. When the campaign became well known in 2008, we conducted an event called Tiger Conservation Day. An NGO representative was invited from India to attend the game opening ceremony. Posters, leaflets, and images projected on the back screen were used to turn the entire stadium into a medium for our appeal on behalf of the Tiger Conservation Fund.In order to maximize the publicity benefits of this campaign, we asked the Hanshin Tigers manager for his cooperation. We created interest through the catchphrase, “The Tigers manager is helping to protect tigers”. This created a buzz via blogs, viral communications and the mass media. By getting the Hanshin Tigers manager to work with us, we were also able to win the cooperation of the team.

In terms of publicity and an effective appeal for wild tiger conservation in Japan, the message was featured in over 100 newspapers, magazines, TV programs, blogs and web sites. Hanshin Tigers won 240 games and JWCS was able to have 240 additional tiger protection rangers. At the same time, the team was also able to secure the No. 1 position in terms of the number of fans and spectators.