Making it safe for the Indian tiger
Keeping the faith: Rajesh Gopal, Inspector General of Forest and Member Secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, at his office in New Delhi. The leader of tiger saving project, Rajesh Gopal , is hopeful about protecting the national animal. He talks with Bindu Shajan Perappadan about the latest advancements in conservation programmes. Often referred to as the commander-in-chief of the army engaged in saving India's national animal, the tiger, Inspector General of Forests and Member Secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority Rajesh Gopal by his own admission "is concerned but has hope for the Indian tiger since it has responded to managerial intervention under Project Tiger.' "See no one can be happy with the situation that we are in right now. I am concerned but don't feel helpless. Our major tiger landscapes hold promise as seen in the current assessment. For the first time in several years we now have a fairly accurate count of the tiger population in the country and its habitat status. This is a good benchmark to start with at the landscape level,' said Gopal. While the Bengal tiger is endangered as it is being poached for its body parts to cater to a growing illegal world market, the population is even more precious because the Caspian, Java and Bali tiger population is already extinct; the South China tiger is nearly extinct in the wild. Spearheading a multi-crore ambitious project aimed at bringing to a halt the flight to extinction of the Indian tiger, Gopal is happy about the new method adopted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to count the tiger population in the country. "Earlier the methodology used was that of taking the total count, where we counted individual pug marks and arrived at an estimation of the tiger population in the country, the method had some obvious inherent problems. We are happy with the new method we have adopted which looks at the population of tigers in a more holistic way, and cannot be compared with the earlier one,' said Gopal. Questioned about the reduction in the tiger population despite efforts to conserve the population Gopal said: "If you look at the arithmetic of it we don't seem to be on top of the situation. However, a more scientific approach will allow us to realise that the figure of over a thousand tigers that we are talking about now is more close to the real picture, given the limiting factors prevailing in the tiger habitats. Another point to take into consideration is the fact that with the available potential area to protect the wild tiger population in India, we don't have the inviolate space to accommodate more than an additional 500 tigers, without fostering man-wildlife conflicts.' Listing protection of the big cat and the fragmentation of the tiger habitat as two of the biggest challenges faced by the Project Tiger, Gopal also spoke about the several new initiatives to boost the tiger population in the country. ''The report of the Tiger Task Force has been one of the most realistic and workable document that we have come up with. Several schemes have been put in place to ensure the acceleration of measures to identify and correct the problems with the current system,' says Gopal. ''The Prime Minister has reviewed the status several times and has also written to various Chief Ministers to take urgent action and work with the Central Government in protecting the tiger. We have also understood the acute need of younger and more motivated staff to stand up against the strong poaching network in the country. Taking a more holistic approach to counter man-animal conflict, the relocation package has been enhanced to Rs.10 lakh per family and Tiger Protection Force has been deployed in 17 important areas,' said Gopal. He adds: "As many as eight new reserves have been included in Project Tiger, and the plan allocation has been stepped up to Rs. 600 crores, apart from the Rs. 50 crores for creating an anti-poaching force. India has also initiated dialogue with neighbouring countries including China, Bangladesh and Bhutan to speak about common issues of concern in respect of curbing killing and smuggling of tigers.' Project Tiger is also now starting to look at the individual problems faced by various tiger reserves in the country. ''Instead of clubbing and generalising the problems across various parks in the country we are beginning to speak with individual heads of parks to understand their unique problem. Working with individual States and understanding their array of issues and seeking to solve them case by case, we expect will help us work towards protecting the tiger.'. For the future, Project Tiger has plans to employ technology to protect its wild tiger population. ''We are bringing advanced communication technology, digital database, networking systems and tiger population evaluation system to ensure maximum benefits of the various programmes underway to project the tiger,' said Gopal.