The Dream Called Project Tiger

By Alaknanda Renukuntla 5 April 2008 351 views No Comment

Tiger! Tiger! Burning bright,

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

- William Blake

Man and tiger have always had a very interesting relationship. Most South Asian cultures revere tigers. The Bengal tiger , in particular, is an evocative national symbol for two South Asian countries – India and Bangladesh. At the start of the century, thousands of tigers existed in Asiatic countries; no one predicted that the animal would eventually be on the list of endangered species. It is said that the prosperity and organization of a country lies in its tiger population; the greater the number of tigers, the greener its forests, more bountiful its water reserves, and happier its people. India’s Prime Minister in 1972, Indira Gandhi, believed in this and launched Project Tiger in an effort to conserve India’s Sherkhan . Increased poaching, hunting and habitat loss had forced the government to initiate this project. However, tiger numbers in the 600 wildlife sanctuaries and National Parks in the country dwindled down to 1411 from 3642 in just the past five years , making Project Tiger a failure.

The most continuous tracts of forest lands for the tigers account for 1.14% of the total forest land in the regions of Nagarhole-Madumalai-Bandipur-Wayanad in South India, Corbett in Uttarkhand (where Project Tiger was first launched), Kanha in Madhyapradesh, Sunderbans in West Bengal and Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong in Assam. The states with highest number of tigers are Madhya Pradesh (236-364) and Karnataka (241-339) and the least numbers are in Bihar (7-13).

Tiger reserves work efficiently if maintained well. They are divided into two invasive regions – core and buffer. The core region should be free from any human disturbance and the buffer region allows for minimal invasion by tribals who live around the forests and also provides a supplementary area for the wild animals to spill over. Also, tigers procreate easily; 30 breeding females need 10 males to form a viable population. The tiger is in is reproductive phase for 5 years out of its average life span of 10 years. With such a system in place, why wasn’t there an increase in the tiger population?

Many conservationists believe that the tiger population is being decimated by the increased export of tiger products. A single tiger skin alone can fetch up to $16,000 – a big sum when compared to the price of a single bullet. The demand comes from the neighboring country, China, where tiger products are used in various traditional medicines, as skins for trophies, and as coats worn by herdsmen of the Tibetan plateau.

Indian tiger conservationists are pulling strings in all directions to save this impressive beast from extinction. There were talks with the Dalai Lama about the issue; newer projects like ‘Tiger Forever’ are being launched Asia-wide; there is even a plan to make a wildlife crime control bureau, similar to the Narcotics control bureau in the country. Many people, such as Valmik Thapar and Ullas Karanth, amongst others, are voicing suggestions to deal with this serious ecological imbalance.

Some believe the tiger can ‘buy its way out of extinction’. There are many tiger farms in China to facilitate the production of these goods. But, the recipes for traditional medicines call for wild-bred tiger’s parts and not captive-bred’s. China imposed a ban on tiger products in 1993 when tigers started disappearing all over Asia, but the demand for tiger products has never gone down. Thus poachers will continue to hunt tigers down even when the ban is lifted since there is no way to distinguish a dead wild tiger’s body parts from a ‘farmed’ one’s.

Others believe we need to learn our lesson from places like Africa, where thousands of dollars collected from gate-passes to safaris are given to the Masai Tribe council, who in turn protect the African Lion from poachers. Botswana on the other hand has franchised parks to private organizations that ensure safety of the land to make money out if it.

As far as India is concerned, it needs to collaborate with the tribals and not disconnect them from this looming problem. The Indian forest service needs to recruit young forest rangers and arm them well to face the dangerous poachers in seasons where tigers are most likely to be poached. Bureaucrats and officials, who are indirectly allowing the smuggling of tiger goods, need to understand that tigers were never a way to make money and that it’s high time they stopped being one.

Let’s hope that we do not simply wait and watch as the tiger dies out.

Photo Courtesy: NadiO