Vanishing stripes: Quest to save tigers a losing battle

The new census conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India is out and the results are not bright. The census says that more than half of the tigers have gone missing in Central India in the last five years.

Tiger numbers have come down by 61 per cent in Madhya Pradesh since 2002, 57 per cent in Maharashtra and 40 per cent in Rajasthan. The census puts the blame of decline in numbers squarely on urbanisation and poaching.

The study is based on a new methodology that the Wildlife Institute says is more accurate in estimating the tiger population.

The findings that cover 16 of India’s 28 tiger reserves have been released after two years of monitoring, and cover 16 of the country's 28 tiger reserves. A final census is expected by the end of the year.

The question that was being debated on Face The Show was: Has India lost the battle to save the tiger?

The panel tackling the debate comprised CSE Director, Sunita Narain; Director Wildlife Protection Society, Belinda Wright; and Director Conservation, ISLT, Raghunandan S Chundawat

Can the New Census Help?

After the last census was taken, not much was done to save the tiger, and many feel that conducting the new census is a sheer waste of time.

Raghunandan S Chundawat affirmed that counting was important for monitoring. However, he said that the knowing the numbers every year is not essential. What was important was to know where the tigers were now and whether they will be present in the future.

But the question is does counting stop the officials from taking steps to save the tiger?

“The decline in numbers is actually due to poaching. We are losing tigers very fast so the census could help check the reduction in numbers. But there could be other reasons also which we need to address,” said Chundawat.

So did Sunita Narain who headed the task of counting that was set up by the Prime Minister in May 7, 2005 and made several recommendations as well, think that counting was essential to save the tiger?

“I think that a lot more needs to be done but counting is important because unless we know how deep the crisis is it is really difficult for us to act. We also need to know where the tigers really are. We have been protecting areas without clarity, without even knowing where the tigers are, what is the state of their habitat and what is the state of their prey. To conduct any strategy it is essential for us to know the numbers. And the task once taken up should be done with rigour and commitment. We have set out in our task force a set of recommendations which includes the use of this methodology for counting and it also includes setting up a crime bureau,” said Sunita Narian.

Fighting a Losing Battle

Narain said the though the Government was addressing the issue of the decline in the number of tigers, a lot more still needed to be done.

Belinda Wright was of the opinion that the census is important but along with that the Government has to ensure that the tigers that come under the count have to be protected. The Government has yet to recognise the real problem.

“The average age of a forest guard is 50 years. There has been no recruitment in the forest department in the last 10 years. The frontline staff is only middle school pass and 50 per cent of the staff is untrained in criminal investigative matters that relates to poaching. Apart from that, 500 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in India exist only on paper. So the figures only go on to say that it is a losing battle to save tigers,” said Wright.