On Wednesday, the Union Minister for Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, broke the news of three new cubs camera-trapped in Sariska Tiger Reserve. For a habitat that had once witnessed a complete wipe-out of the big cats, it indeed is a matter of cheer that the tiger repopulation is on track to grow. But there is a flip side to it, too. As recent genetic research would vouch, Rajasthan also bears the highest inbred tiger population in the entire country and there have been frequent calls for supplementation plans to add to the gene pool in the north-western state’s reserve.
This news must be read with an interesting-yet-bizarre tiger story that originated from Odisha, where the state’s lone tiger habitat, Similipal, reported a jump in their population. The state government estimated the presence of 27 felines in the habitat, but 13 of them were found to be pseudo-melanistic.
That it was the only such population in the world is matter for a bigger debate. Should it be celebrated? No, caution should be the first step. A highly-inbred population is vulnerable to collapse in the absence of genetic diversity. The Odisha government was quick to announce a plan for reintroduction by bringing in tigers from other states.
India’s tiger conservation is a remarkable story. From just 268 in 1973, when Project Tiger was launched, the headcount of the majestic predator increased to 3,682 in 2022. The 24 percent jump since 2018 speaks volumes of the steadfast approach in preservation. However, the effects of uneven growth, clustering of populations caused by fragmented habitats, increased anthropogenic pressure as well as linear infrastructure must not be lost on the government.
Genetic study has shown that Indian tigers are diverse, but there are populations in Central India that have reported high levels of structuring, pointing at reasons induced by growing human activities. Also, tiger populations from the North-East and southern Western Ghats warrant increasing conservation priorities.
The all-India report, too, had flagged these concerns. Increased mining activities in Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh must be contained. While there is an immediate requirement for enhanced protection, as the electrocution of a tiger in Kanha would suggest, the focus must be on further research to enrich the gene pool in the weaker tiger populations of the country.