Authored by Akhila Satchidanandam:
"When the stars threw down their spears,And watered heaven with their tears, Did he smile his work to see?Did he who made the lamb make thee? "- William Blake (The Tyger) Well, that’s a poet’s fascination at nature’s work on the strong sinewy tiger. It sure holds good for anyone be it the person who studies animal behavior or the layman who goes on a Tiger safari. There is something irrefutably alluring about him right!! But what exactly is it with India and a whole lot of wild life protection campaigns and discussion forums on this wild animal?
Is it because of its fleeting numbers or because its our national animal? Its ironical how an animal so ferocious and defensive is now an endangered species. At the beginning of 20th century, Bengal Tiger population in India was 40,000. In 1972, however this figure diminished to a mere 1,827. The paucity of estimated Tiger population as of Feb 12th 2008 was an alarming 1,411. So, are we going to conveniently blame it on global warming again? Fortunately or unfortunately, it is most likely that we don’t have that luxury this time. The reason is the fact that it has been proved too many a times and in too many instances that man has been the direct culprit. Tiger poaching – how worse a fate can our dear national animal be subjected to…. The very existence of our symbol of pride, icon of sinew is at stake. May be global warming and other environmental issues do have their parts to play but man’s indiscriminate killing of the Tigers is on the forefront. As a result of the shocking figures of the 1972 census, Project Tiger was launched to save the Big Cats in the same year, as proposed by World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
As the core initiative, about 10 Tiger national parks were established throughout India which has grown to 27 now. As per the statistics flaunted by Project Tiger programme, there has been a substantial increase in the Big Cat population between 1972 and 2002 from 1,827 to 3,642. If Project Tiger was so successful, why has the number of Tigers shrunk to a 1,411 in 2008? And why hasn’t the Project Tiger committee updated the statistics past 2002? The answer is evident – numbers have been manipulated by the authorities, with a selfish motive, possibly to lend a “helping hand” to “the great traders of China”. Following the Project Tiger failure revelation, Tiger population was monitored by several government and non-government organizations. To their dismay, some Tiger reserves showed no traces of even a single Tiger.
The reason for such rapid decline in the number of Tigers is because of indiscriminate Tiger poaching. Tiger skin, tooth, claws, bones and even skull are greatly in demand among the tribal of China. Most popular market locale for these Tiger products are Nagchu, Lhasa, Litang, Kandling, Songpan and Linxia of China located right across Indian border. It is a matter of pride for these tribals to adorn themselves with Tiger skin, ornaments made from their bones and claws – more common during festivals. Supposedly, it determines ones economic status among the tribal groups. UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has been calling for rigorous action to protect wildlife world over. Appropriate steps were proposed to be taken and it was agreed from an analysis that Nepal, China and India require strict enforcements but reportedly, the governments were not responsive enough to consummate these enforcements. India’s action: As per the Wildlife Protection act of 1972, amended in 2006, Tiger and leopard skin traders would be sentenced a 7 year imprisonment and a penalty of Rs 5,00,000 imposed. Property derived from illegal trade can be confiscated. These law enforcements are with respect to post poaching. But, whats the way to put an end to this poaching in the first place? Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) and Environmental Impact Association (EIA) went about stealthily investigating on how smuggling Tiger products in such large numbers across the border is possible. From their visit to Lhasa, TAR, Linxia and Gansu, and interaction with the tribals, it was made clear that these Tiger products were transported through mountain passes and official border crossings through couriers. One of the traders, WPSI interacted with explicitly stated, “I can guarantee goods because I have a passport. Have good customs contact and also I have access to coolies who can smuggle them over.” Seemingly, tribals are not the only group that buys these animal products but also government officials, army officers, business men etc from mainland China according to one of the traders. Mere passing of a law will not mend things. Its high time Tiger poaching is curbed. The following are some immediate steps to be taken:
- Mount surveillance cameras in the Tiger reserves especially at the encroachments and monitor them constantly
- Spread awareness and the need to conserve Tigers should be promulgated to the remotest part of the country (city dwellers get enough of email forwards….. though I wonder how many truly got educated)
- High security should be stationed at mountain passes and possible smuggling routes between India and China
- Levy heavy penalty on those found guilty
- Isolate couple Tigers and provide congenial mating niche (though it is to increase the population, I think it needs to be done hand in hand with measures to save the existing Tigers)
Current Status: We lost three sub species of Tiger already in the 20th century the Javan, the Balinese, and the Caspian tiger owing to habitat loss and poaching. Six sub species remain of which two are critically endangered according to IUCN red list – the South China Tiger (panthera tigris amoyensis) and the Sumatran Tiger (panthera tigris sumatrae). To add on, two cubs were found dead in Ranthambhore park, Jaipur on the 7th of this month, the reason is suspected to be poisoning though not confirmed. A mature Royal Bengal Tiger was killed on 26th of Jan this year by villagers of Numuk in Arunachal Pradesh's West Siang district. While the meat was unscrupulously consumed, the skin was sold for 1.5 lakhs to a business man from Assam. Apparently this is the third such incident in the last one year in this area. Three tigers were reported to be dead at the beginning of 2010 in Uttarkhand. Although the known number of Tigers in India as of 2008 is 1411, the number is bound to have decreased and the Tiger census of 2010 (in progress) is going to be all the more shocking. No matter how veraciously NGOs try to protect wildlife, they have limited prospective to put their plans into action. Assigning the entire responsibility to NGOs and non-profit organizations may better the present scenario assuming the absence of politics and corruption. Wildlife safety and conservation in India unfortunately, has not been considered a critical issue. Apparently, we have been so desperately bent on improving our standards that environment and wildlife preservation has become a trivial issue. Animals have the right to live and die natural death as much as we do. If this rate at which Tigers are being poached continues, we will have to tell our grand children, “There used to be this fierce, sinewy animal called Tiger, it had yellow body and black stripes which was our national animal. And they are no more on this planet.” Its therefore high time we take rigorous measures to protect the Panthera tigris. As citizens, it is our duty to divulge our concern to the ignorant and the government.
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Man Vs Nature: The Tiger Story | Indian Today
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... [...] post: Man Vs Nature: The Tiger Story Share and [...] |
resveratrol
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... Just wanted to let you know that your page is not showing up correctly on the BlackBerry Browser. Anyway, I’m now on the RSS feed on my laptop, so it shows! |
Economic
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... For those unfamiliar with the Tiger Lady's story, pound Bengal tiger found roaming around a neighborhood near the preserve. Economic |
Sangeeta Goswami
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... Good one....... All the things on this planet are intimately associated including humans, animals - change in even a single component of this chain will impact others. We can protect ourselves by saving tigers.......may be some environmental changes r also affecting them but we cant be mute spectators seeing the man-eater itself becoming victim of man ! Such articles will be helpful in bringing abt better environment awareness and make us capable of anticipating a better future.........keep it up !  |
Aditya
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... A very good article!! One more bad fact is we as a Nation talk a lot but when it comes to action not even 10% of it is implemented.There is no point in educating Urban people,the message has to be sent to Poachers and a strong warning has to be given. But considering our Government's and some campaign related to tigers all we do is raise concern!! |
Koo
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... Three points a. There is a demand, a big demand - so poachers/suppliers will remain b. There is an incentive too, a big huge fat incentive - so people will be bought. c. There will be news and headlines made, articles will be written, campaigning will be done & public will be provoked, triggered etc - there is huge money in that too friends.... Well... the root cause is demand which should be destroyed - unfortunately there isnt a strong will to cut it yet... |
Johnny dogs
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... Good morning, You write some very good blogs, I love nearly all of your articles. I always check back here often to see if you have updated. Keep on blogging! Have you ever thought about blogging for money? there is a website http://www.kidsolo.com that pays you to write articles, you would be good at it. |
Wilber Huch
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... There is obviously so much more to know about this. I think you made some o.k points in Features also. Keep working, fantasitc job! property preservation |
abandoned-kittens
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... Good morning, This is an excellent post, but I was wondering just how do i suscribe to the RSS feed? |
Lawanna Anliker
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... It does seem that everybody is into this kind of stuff lately. Don’t really understand it though, but thanks for trying to explain it. Appreciate you shedding light into this matter. Keep it up |
Resless
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... @Koo: The only thing bitter than learning from experience is not learning from experience @Johnny @ All: Hey guys now u have a site where u can write and get paid.....did u ever know that u guys can also make money by writing and sell ur passion ur love ur creativity...........Johnny, u really care for the guys.....If i get a chance, i would like to meet u !!!!! |
riju
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... hi,excellent artical.We know that the no of tigers is reducing ,writing continuously about it still we a where were no improvement.So what stern steps r we taking to save tigers?What goverment in doing in this field?Or is it just toshow how much we care about nature where as we give damn to that..............THINK |
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... [...] Reader's Quotient - Man Vs Nature: The Tiger Story 15 Mar 2010. Tiger poaching – how worse a fate can our dear national animal be.. tell our grand children, “There used to be this fierce, sinewy animal called.. Trackbacks/Pingbacks. Man Vs Nature: The Tiger Story | Indian Today Reader's Quotient - Man Vs Nature: The Tiger Story [...] |
