Here is another depressing news about the rapidly disappearing
tiger population in India. I wonder if there will be any tigers left
in the wild by the end of this decade.
This shows that the best efforts of our best minds (Project Tiger,
World Wildlife Fund, Naturalists, nature lovers etc etc etc ) is not
good enough to save the tiger. The big cat is slowly being hunted
out of existence.
Little thought is given to the wild life in our country. Is this the
India that had for centuries respected all things of nature? One is
not able to understand the rapid decline in moral values, the
shift towards a decidedly materialistic way of life (where more of
something is better), "human progress" (whatever that means)
at the cost of other life, this utter lack of sensitivity for our
environment....the list is a long one that benumbs the mind.
What is one to do? Why have we become like this? What are the
consequences of living this way? Will we also perish someday
following in the pug-steps of our feline brothers and sisters?
All I can do is to ask for forgiveness of the Almighty (who created
all life) on behalf of all our insane human brothers and sisters for
this cruel turn of events.
I may sound resigned and helpless. But what else can one do?
What can one do when government policies (or lack of it),
population explosion, human greed, global warming that has
brought about sweeping climatic changes etc - all this put
together - is destroying life on the very planet that we humans
have evolved from?!
If there is evil in this universe, I am beginning to think that it may
have a human face.
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Over half of tigers lost in 5 years: census
by Aarti Dhar
NEW DELHI: India has lost more than 50 per cent of its tiger population in the past five years with the numbers dwindling to 1,411 from 3,642 in 2001-02, according to the latest tiger census report.
The “State of tiger, co-predators and prey in India” report, released here on Tuesday, said there had been an overall decrease in the tiger population except in Tamil Nadu where the numbers have gone up substantially from 60 in 2001-02 to 76.
The counting could not be carried out in the Indravati Tiger Reserve in Chhattisgarh and Palamau Tiger Reserve in Jharkhand due to inaccessibility because of naxalite problem while estimation is on in the massive Sunderbans area in West Bengal.
However, based on available data in Palamau Tiger Reserve, the report indicates a low density of tiger in the area ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 per hundred square kilometres.
GIS technology
Adopting a 17.43 per cent coefficient of variation in the figures estimated with the latest GIS technology instead of the pugmark methodology, the report, however, says that the status of its co-predators, prey and habitat has not adversely changed in the tiger reserves and protected area and the decline has been in the outside areas.
The assessment has shown that the tiger has suffered due to direct poaching, loss of quality habitat, and loss of its prey.
The state-wise analysis has shown that Andhra Pradesh has 95 tigers (as against 192 in 2001-02), Chhattisgarh 26 (227), Madhya Pradesh 300 (710), Maharashtra 103 (238), Orissa 45 (173), Rajasthan 32 (58).
Figures in Rajasthan are only for the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve because Sariska has no tigers left.
In the Western Ghats regions, Karnataka has 290 tigers as against 401, Kerala 46 (71) and Tamil Nadu 76 (60).
Steep decline
The North East Hills and Brahmaputra Plains too have shown a decline in the population with Assam having only 70 tigers though it reported 354 in the previous census.
Arunachal Pradesh has 14 tigers against 61, Mizoram only 6 (28) and North West Bengal 10 against 349 earlier, though figures from the Sunderbans regions are yet to be compiled.
The north-eastern region is a heavy rainfall area and does not support high tiger populations.
Close
mehulkamdar,
thanks for your comments. I agree with your views completely.
As if the problems created by the govt was not enough, here is another bit of news about naxalites:
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Naxalites destroying tiger reserves: Census
New Delhi: Tiger reserves in areas with heavy Naxalite presence and influence are the country’s worst, according to the Wildlife Institute of India’s latest tiger census report that has recorded a sharp fall in tiger population.
The reason for the fall in the number of tigers in these reserves can be anything-—from poaching to loss of habitat, it said.
Qamar Qureshi, WII’s chief tiger census investigator, said the tiger reserves in Naxal-affected Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa have fared poorly. “They are suffering because of Naxalism,” he said. An official of the WII said forest officials in the three states have almost acceded control of the reserves to Naxalites. Five reserves-—Indravati, Palamau, Saranda, Valmiki and Simlipal-—are in huge contiguous forest areas, making it impossible for the thinly armed forest staff to move in, the official added.
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India has lost most of her wildlife to habitat degradation and it is the ridiculous policies of successive governments that are entirely to blame for this mess. Even now, no one cares about what happens to our wildlife.
With incompetent dolts filling our legislatures and our executives and with inept judiciary unable to do anything of significance, the tiger will be extinct in the wild. India is the world's biggest conservation basket case. We have to accept the bad with the good and this is a case where India has failed miserably.
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Thanks Tanushree for your comments.
I sure hope I will live to see my daughter watching a tiger(ess) watching its healthy litter of
six cubs in a real jungle (not a zoo) !
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Excellent blog! The vanishing tigers are indeed a matter of concern. I wonder if fifty years down the line, children will know what a tiger looks like...except for the pictures...I guess. Something like knowing the dinosaurs.
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Thanks swarajya for going through this blog.
You are right... we need more tigers in the forests, not in politics.
(Won't mind if the current crop of "tiger-politicians" are captured
and released in the wild where they belong....from rajneethi
to sanyaas in one shot! That is happiness.)
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Yes, it is a depressing news.The tigers have increased in politics but dwindled in forests.What are the Forest Officers doing?Every effort must be made to preserve our Wild Heritage.
Thanks for your informative article.
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