On April 12, 2016, Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi effectively summarised the relationship between tigers and humans in the following sentences. “By protecting the tiger, we protect the entire ecosystem and the ecological services, which are equally crucial for the well-being of human beings... I strongly believe that tiger conservation, or conservation of nature, is not a drag on development. Both can happen in a mutually complementary manner.”
Despite this positive statement from the Prime Minister, the national animal of our country did not do too well in 2016; 98 tiger deaths were reported in the year. This was highest in the recent past. The numbers of tiger deaths in the preceding four years are 72 (2012), 63 (2013), 66 (2014), and 69 (2015). India, with more than 60 per cent of the world’s wild tigers, is also the most vulnerable country as far as tiger poaching is concerned. According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority, all tiger deaths are being treated as poaching unless proven otherwise. Out of the 98 tiger deaths last year, the cause of death was not ascertained in more than half. This needs to change.
It is important to ensure effective prosecution of offenders involved in tiger poaching and trade in tiger body parts. The judiciary needs to be sensitised about the importance of curbing poaching and illegal wildlife trade, particularly for tigers.
India needs to tackle the international cartel of wildlife trade in rhino horn, pangolin scales, otter skins and elephant tusks. This is more important when the demand for tiger parts is not just from global markets but also from domestic black magic practitioners. To strengthen tiger protection, Central and state governments need to work together to fill vacancies in all protected areas and forest divisions that form tiger habitats and corridors. Welfare of the frontline staff needs to be a priority, at par with uniformed forces. Local communities need to become stewards of wildlife conservation in their own right.
Tiger populations are in decline in many areas where their habitats are now fragmented and corridors are dysfunctional on account of poorly planned land use change. One fourth of India’s 2,200-plus tigers in the reserve forests are not well protected. Tigers, being large territorial species, move between habitats, and most of their corridors fall in non-wildlife forest divisions. It is here that tigers face maximum threats.
There is an emphasis on rapid infrastructure development in the country, some of which happen in and around tiger habitats and corridors. Be it denotification of core breeding habitat of tigers in Panna Tiger Reserve or expansion of NH 7 passing through the Kanha-Pench corridor, tigers are quickly losing ground.
It is imperative that infrastructure development be guided by comprehensive land use planning that balances human needs and aspirations with safeguards for tigers and their ecosystems.
Dipankar Ghose
Director, Species & Landscapes Programme,
WWF-India Secretariat