Discovery Communications : Project C.A.T. Extends Support Of Wild Tiger Habitats To Nearly 2 Million Acres

- Donations from Project C.A.T.'s Global Tiger Day Campaign Help Protect World's Only Mangrove Tiger Area -

Silver Spring, Md. - Discovery Communications announced today that donations raised through Project C.A.T.'s first-ever Global Tiger Day campaign will help fund protection of tigers in an additional preserved site for the endangered species, furthering Discovery's commitment to help safeguard the world's wild tiger population.

Project C.A.T.'s Global Tiger Day campaign, launched this past July, drew donations from high-profile corporate partners including Tinder, rag & bone, and more, as well as individuals in 58 countries around the world as part of a broader effort to raise public awareness and protect wild tigers from extinction.

'Project C.A.T. is a vital component of Discovery's ongoing commitment to preserve and protect our planet and its species,' said David Zaslav, President and CEO of Discovery Communications. 'By working with our Global Tiger Day partners to raise awareness and drive donations for an additional tiger site, we're ensuring that Project C.A.T. makes a direct impact on the ground where this important conservation work is being done each and every day.'

Donations raised through Global Tiger Day will help support work by WWF and Indian authorities to protect tigers in a 988,422 acre reserve in India's Sundarbans region, a mangrove ecosystem which is increasingly threatened by climate change. The Sundarbans is the only coastal wetland tiger habitat in the world and home to tigers who are uniquely adapted as swimmers and to life in muddy mangrove forests. The support will help strengthen key tiger protection measures in this vital reserve.

'Tigers roam from the snowy hills of the Russian Far East to the rain forests of Sumatra, but only in the Sundarbans can you find them catching crabs to eat and swimming from island to island,' said Ginette Hemley, Senior Vice President of Wildlife Conservation at WWF. 'We have worked side by side with the government in this region for over four decades to protect tigers in this globally unique ecosystem.'

Launched by Discovery in 2016, Project C.A.T. (Conserving Acres for Tigers) is a partnership with WWF to help double the wild tiger population by 2022. In the last century alone, the wild tiger population has dropped an astonishing 96%, to fewer than 4,000 left in the wild because of habitat loss and pervasive poaching. But given ample space, prey and protection from poaching, tiger populations can rebound. Discovery's sponsorship of protected tiger projects that WWF supports with the governments of India and Bhutan allows rangers to more closely monitor tiger populations and other key scientific data, take additional anti-poaching safeguards, and maintain land and corridors to improve movement of tigers and other wild animals.

U.S. donations raised through the Global Tiger Day campaign have allowed Discovery to help support this second Project C.A.T. landscape, extending Discovery's support of wild tiger habitats to nearly two million acres. This donation will contribute to monitor habitat health in the face of climate change, monitor species through camera trapping, mitigate and prevent human-tiger conflict, and engage communities in conservation actions related to livelihoods.

As part of its efforts to engage audiences and consumers worldwide around Global Tiger Day, Discovery leveraged its vast creative resources, global distribution platform as well as celebrity and corporate brand partnerships to drive awareness around wild tiger preservation. In addition to raising funds, Discovery's campaign spread awareness for cat conservation around the globe, with highlights including:

• 700 million views of the Project C.A.T. global public service announcement narrated by actress Freida Pinto;
• More than 400 million Global Tiger Day impressions across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, including posts from Heidi Klum, Ellen DeGeneres, Cher, Ricky Gervais, and more;
• A commitment from dating app Tinder to ban tiger selfies and donate $10,000 to Project C.A.T.;
• Support from designer rag & bone, who created limited edition Global Tiger Day t-shirts, held events in support of Project C.A.T. and provided a donation to Project C.A.T.;
• And consumer donations from nearly 60 countries around the world; with U.S. donations channeled to the new tiger site.

Other leading influencers and consumer partners who helped the cause by lending their brand recognition, fan and consumer reach to Project C.A.T.'s Global Tiger Day campaign included:

• The Dodo, the number-one animal brand on social, which is a part of Discovery's Group Nine Media digital joint venture, and who became the exclusive digital media partner of Project C.A.T.;
• Ryan Seacrest, Kyle McLachlan, Naomi Watts, Naomi Campbell, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cecily Strong, Jamie Alexander, Elizabeth Henstridge, and the artist Sonny;
• Designer rag & bone, Christopher Radko Ornaments and eco-conscious accessories brand Alex and Ani;
• Media and technology brands iHeartMedia and AOL;
• Amazon Alexa and Google Home, which now feature a dedicated tiger skill comprised of facts, trivia and a donation prompt to support Project C.A.T.;
• Pledgeling, a digital platform that connects brands and consumers to their favorite causes around the world, which powered donation drives from the PSA, Animal Planet programming block and other Global Tiger Day media outreach efforts.

For additional information or to donate, please visit: www.discovery.com/projectCAT or view the Global Tiger Day PSA: https://youtu.be/AjQ3VzVV_QE.

About Discovery Communications:

Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) satisfies curiosity and captivates superfans around the globe with a portfolio of premium nonfiction, lifestyle, sports and kids content brands including Discovery Channel, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet, Science and Turbo/Velocity, as well as OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network in the U.S., Discovery Kids in Latin America, and Eurosport, the leading provider of locally relevant, premium sports and Home of the Olympic Games across Europe. Available in more than 220 countries and territories, Discovery's programming reaches 3 billion cumulative viewers, who together consume 54 billion hours of Discovery content each year. Discovery's offering extends beyond traditional TV to all screens, including TV Everywhere products such as the GO portfolio and Discovery Kids Play; over-the-top streaming services such as Eurosport Player; digital-first and social video from Group Nine Media; and virtual reality storytelling through Discovery VR. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.

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