Survival of tigers is dependent on conservation and management efforts. To gauge the success of conservation efforts as well as to guide management inputs, it is important to assess the effectiveness of
The report of the latest tiger census, which shows the existence of no more than 1,411 wild cats, justifies the fear that tiger conservation efforts are not paying off. Indeed, the current tiger count is lower than the tiger population of 1,827 in 1972, when the Wildlife Protection Act was enacted to pave the way for the launch of Project Tiger, designed to conserve and propagate what was seen 36 years ago as a threatened species. Undeniably, Project Tiger did show good results initially, with the tiger head count rising to a handsome 3,000 by 1979, but it began flagging subsequently, leading to not only the negation of the initial gains but to the re-emergence of fears about the continued existence of tigers in the country's wild areas. The latest census is based on the globally adopted method of supplementing the pug-mark count with evidence collected through camera traps, remote sensing and various robust statistical tools. It has, consequently, made several revelations which are dismaying. For one, it has confirmed that the 2002 tiger count, which had put the number at a high of around 3,500, was a bogus exercise, meant chiefly to cover up lapses on the tiger conservation front and counter reports of widespread poaching activity. The bulk of the remaining tiger population is now confined to a few reserved sanctuaries, the notable among them being the Corbett Park in Uttaranchal, Nagarhole in Karnataka, Kanha and Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh, and Kaziranga in Assam. Most other tiger reserves have reported a sharp drop in tiger numbers. Some of the key ones among them are Ranthambore and Sariska in Rajasthan, Palamau in Jharkhand, Nagarjun Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh and Indravati in Chhattisgarh. But this needs to be viewed against the backdrop of the fact that, barring Ranthambore and Sariska, the other three poorly-performing habitats are hotspots of Naxal activity and the decline in the tiger population there could, therefore, be for reasons different from those prevailing in other wildlife habitats that have witnessed a slide. The lack of success in tiger conservation is attributable largely to complacency. This is reflected in the large number of posts of forest guards and rangers which have been lying vacant for years on end, as also in the paucity of the resources required for protecting reserve forests. Most of the forest officers who are in place do not have fast-moving vehicles, modern communication tools and weapons, all of which are required to counter the better-equipped poachers. That the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, set up last year to supervise the forests, has not yet become effectively operational is another indication of the apathy towards this task. Commonplace issues like re-location of human habitations from the wildlife sanctuaries and curbing other non-forestry activities there have also not been suitably addressed. In the absence of a suitable policy framework, even the fringe areas around the forests have not been able to serve as effective buffer zones. Under the given circumstances, it seems far better to concentrate resources and efforts on selected habitats that have tiger populations large enough for quicker breeding and propagation than spreading them thinly over wider tracts, as is being done today. Besides, the trade and, more importantly, the exporters of tiger parts need to be curbed effectively to take away the incentive for poaching on tigers.
The use of new sampling techniques has cut by half the estimated number of wild tigers in India. A new report from the Indian government puts the number at 1411, compared with 3642 in 2002. Experts say the decline reflects more than just a change in methodology: Poaching, human encroachment and habitat loss take a heavy toll.
Shivalik-Gangetic plains Among the most important tiger ranges with a high density of 297 tigers over 5,177 sp km. Uttarakhand has 178 tigers, UP 109, Bihar 10 Total: 297 Highlight: The only demographically viable population in Northwestern India. The Corbett tiger reserve alone has an estimated population of 164 tigers spread over 1,524 sq km. The tiger census suggests a buffer zone of 1,000 sq km for Corbett. The tiger has become locally extinct in 29 per cent of the region's districts Potential tiger habitat: 20,800 km Challenges:
The reasons for tiger deaths in the country are beginning to show.Members of the National Board for Wildlife, the apex conservation body chaired by the Prime Minister, wrote to him on Tuesday saying decisions approved by him, including the one on forming a sub-committee for the tiger, are not being followed and even minutes of meetings are not being properly recorded.
This refers to the editorial "Counting real tigers' (Feb. 19). The news that the tiger population in India as a whole has been reduced to a paltry 1,411 is both shocking and surprising. Atrocities committed by mankind
You can knock off two more tigers from the 1,411 count. Days after the national tiger count came up with this alarmingly low figure for tigers left in the wild, forest officials have seized two tiger skins
A tigress that strayed into Deulbari village of West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district on the outskirts of the Sunderban Tiger Reserve (STR), was pelted with stones and beaten by local residents as it lay in a sedated state in a pond after being darted by forest personnel with tranquillisers and forced down a palm tree atop which it had taken shelter on Monday morning. The frightened animal was rescued from the pond and taken by forest staff for examination by veterinarians. It was to be released into the forests, N. Singhal, Field Director, STR, said.
The first attempt at estimating India's tiger population using statistically valid techniques shows that the numbers of the big cat are depressingly low. The recently released report of the National Tiger Conservation Authority and Wildlife Institute of India, titled "Status of Tigers, Co-predators and Prey in India,' estimates that there are 1,411 tigers in six landscape complexes. These are the Shivalik-Gangetic Plains; the Central Indian Landscape Comp lex; the Eastern Ghats; the Western Ghats; the North-Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra Plains; and the Sunderbans.
The name Abdul Khader Chaudhury does not strike a chord. But he and two others are allegedly responsible for the fast-dwindling tiger population in India. Chaudhury (69), along with two other notorious wildlife traders from Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, has reportedly smuggled around 600 tiger skins outside the country, in their association spanning more than two decades. He was arrested by the Karnataka State CID Forest Cell on Sunday, from his house in Hyderabad. He was wanted in Hubli and Haliyal cases.
The wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC issued a wake-up call to the Indonesian authorities this week: stop the illegal trade in Sumatran tiger body parts or the species will be hunted to extinction.
