# data[].attributes.headline
Acoustic Monitoring As a Way to Protect Tigers

# data[].attributes.subject
Acoustic Monitoring As a Way to Protect Tigers

# data[].attributes.body
Award-winning filmmaker, journalist, and conservationist Neela Eyunni won a Grand Jury Activist Award at the Awareness Film Festival for her work with On the Brink: Uncharted Waters, a film about whale shark tourism and its consequences. Neela Eyunni is also a director of communications for the Prusten Project, which explores how acoustic monitoring might help protect tigers, and is at work on her next film on that topic with her production company Roja Earth Productions.

Tiger subspecies all over the world are endangered or extinct, and 50 percent of that loss has occurred since the 1990s. Tigers only exist in about 7 percent of the regions where they historically have been found. Ecological imbalances in their habitats may be partly to blame, but illegal sales and trade of tiger body parts is also a contributing factor.

Acoustic monitoring is a technique that involves identifying the meaning of the sounds an animal makes and determining whether these calls can indicate gender or age, or even be traced to specific individuals. The technique is a relatively new way of understanding animals. Scientists started to explore the idea with bird calls, but researchers have lately been studying it with elephants, primates, and other forms of wildlife. Understanding the way animals vocalize could help scientists better track the animals, target and shut down poaching, and learn more about them. This, in turn, might help endangered tigers and other animals.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Filmmaker, journalist and conservationist Neela Eyunni is the founder of Roja Earth Productions (REP), a production company that has produced films including On the Brink: Uncharted Waters. The film, which won the Grand Jury Activist Award from the Awareness Film Festival, explores the impact of whale shark tourism in the Philippines.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Filmmaker, journalist and conservationist Neela Eyunni is the founder of Roja Earth Productions (REP), a production company that has produced films including On...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
With a journalism degree from the University of Denver, Neela Eyunni expanded her experience with several journalism positions before relocating to China in 2010. There, she served as a producer and host for Blue Ocean Network and later as a news editor, reporter, and lead anchor for China Central Television. In 2014, Neela Eyunni wrote a children's book inspired by her experience in China called Cee Cee's World Adventures: Beijing Bound.

After a trip to see whale sharks in the Philippines, Neela Eyunni decided to investigate the impact of whale shark tourism on both the animals and locals. Thus, she created her own film production company: Roja Earth Productions (REP). Her initial project with the new studio was the documentary On the Brink: Uncharted Waters, which ended up winning the San Francisco International Ocean Film Festival's Conservation Award in 2016 and has been aired on National Geographic Channel Asia. As a result of the film's success, Ms. Eyunni has been asked to speak about marine conservation at several events, film festivals, and conferences.

In addition to her work as a documentarian, Neela Eyunni serves as director of communications for the tiger conservation initiative The Prusten Project. In her spare time, she loves scuba diving.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With a journalism degree from the University of Denver, Neela Eyunni expanded her experience with several journalism positions before relocating to China in 2010. There, she served as a producer and host for Blue Ocean Network and later as a news editor, reporter, and lead anchor for China Central Television.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Rebroadcasts and clips from CCTV News with Neela Eyunni.