New Delhi [India], February 21: Renowned Bollywood composer-singer & filmmaker Abhishek Ray was recently approached by the United Nations and the Government of India to create the branding anthem and film of the prestigious IBCA (International Big Cat Alliance), a dream project by PM Modi for bringing together 94 big cat holding countries of the world.
The International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) is an intergovernmental organization that aims to conserve big cats l. The Government of India established the IBCA in March 2024.
The IBCA anthem – ‘Guardians of the Wild.’ which is conceived, composed, sung and filmed by Abhishek Ray, depicts the 7 big cats of the world namely the tiger, lion, leopard, puma, jaguar, cheetah and snow leopard. The branding film reveals the glory & characteristics of the big cats as the apex predators of their natural habitats.
Bringing his music, filmmaking and conservation efforts together to save big cats, Abhishek Ray has recently filmed, sung and composed India’s National Cheetah Anthem for NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) and created India’s national Tiger anthem earlier.
Apart from being an ace film composer
known for the music for iconic films like Paan Singh Tomar, I am Kalam, Saheb Biwi aur Gangster, Welcome Back, Life is Good, Shagird, Yeh Saali Zindagi etc. Abhishek Ray has been awarded with Swabhiman Bharat & the prestigious Amazing Indian award by the Vice President of India along with a letter of appreciation by PM Modi for creating Sitabani Wildlife Reserve, the world’s first rewilded private sanctuary with wild tiger and leopard presence. His path-breaking work in wildlife conservation is now being used as a precedent in many countries for rewinding degraded habitats.
Right from his early teens, Abhishek Ray has been a Government bonafide tiger & leopard tracker having received multiple certifications for taking part in tiger census in various tiger reserves of India.
‘More than a decade back, I chanced upon this barren hill adjacent to Corbett Tiger Reserve which had been abused by years of slash and burn agriculture. The hill was surrounded by dense Sal forest. So in my eyes, this degraded land was screaming to be returned back to the wild. My childhood dream of creating a haven for wildlife saw manifestation in this and I utilised all my savings from Bollywood in buying it off and then painstaking rewilding it to pristine forest over many years. When human interference was removed, nature took over. ‘, says Abhishek.
He did rain water harvesting and made several fresh water bodies on the land. The grass, bamboo, fruiting trees planted by him and particularly the water bodies became a magnet for 350 species of rare birds and ungulates like Sambar, Ghoral , Chital and Barking deer. Once the prey settled in, they were soon followed by apex predators. Thereby the broken tiger-leopard corridor was re-established and then a miracle happened.
The universe conspired and a wild tigress gave birth to cubs in the area. The cubs found save haven with perennial water, prey, thick undergrowth and no human disturbance. The tigress made Sitabani wildlife reserve famous by reposing her trust in Abhishek and rearing her cubs in a habitat that he created from barren hill.
Abhishek strongly believes that big cat numbers are an accurate indicator of freshwater, rainfall, clean rivers and the overall environmental health of India.
‘ Inspite of being the most populous country, we are home to 5 of the 7 big cats of the world (tiger, lion, leopard, cheetah, snow leopard).
Therefore New Delhi is a natural capital for the IBCA (International Big Cat Alliance) and India with its impeccable credentials in tiger-leopard conservation will soon be the global ambassador of big cat conservation and management.’ ,mantains the composer- conservationist.
The famous Bollywood star Jackie Shroff has also lend his voice alongside Ray in ‘Guardians of the wild’- The planet’s big cat anthem.
Link: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C52c2nYPUs3/?igsh=ZmQwcHF6eTlrM3Yw
