Tigers: India
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[[File: Ranthambore National Park Rajasthan.jpg.jpg|Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan.jpg; Graphic courtesy: [http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/t24-ustad-tiger-forest-guard-rampal-saini-sajjangarh-biological-park/1/440873.html ''India Today'']|frame|500px]] | [[File: Ranthambore National Park Rajasthan.jpg.jpg|Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan.jpg; Graphic courtesy: [http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/t24-ustad-tiger-forest-guard-rampal-saini-sajjangarh-biological-park/1/440873.html ''India Today'']|frame|500px]] | ||
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| + | =Movement of humans more important than tigers: SC= | ||
| + | [http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=SC-Development-more-important-than-tigers-21012016012038 ''The Times of India''], Jan 21 2016 | ||
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| + | Dhananjay Mahapatra | ||
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| + | '''SC: Development more important than tigers''' | ||
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| + | The Supreme Court said that the conservation of tigers was important but it could not be done at the cost of movement of human beings from one place to another and general economic development of the country . | ||
| + | The court was critical of NGOs which rush to challenge development projects, in this case four-laning of the 37-km-stretch of NH-7 between Nagpur and Jabalpur passing through Pench tiger reserve. | ||
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| + | The issue had led to a tug of war between the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court, which had suo motu taken up the issue of widening of NH-7, and the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which claimed to have sole jurisidiction over environ mental issues. Both passed orders that ran counter to each other, leaving the officials of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in a Catch-22 situation. If they obeyed one, they committed contempt of another. | ||
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| + | The SC settled the conflict and said the HC would be the forum to deal with the roadwidening issue. A bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justices A K Sikri and R Banumathi was highly critical of NGOs, including Conservation Action Forum, which had challenged the road-widening project on the ground that it would seriously impede the traditional migration routes of tigers in the reserve. | ||
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| + | The bench said, “Tigers are important. But what happens to the movement of traffic? It is not the first time that a national highway is passing through a reserved forest. We are for protecting tigers.“ | ||
| + | |||
| + | “Have you all filed any PIL against poaching? Why don't you go and work with those people working at the ground level to protect tigers from poachers? You jump to litigation whenever there is a development project. File a PIL on how to prevent poaching. Real danger to tiger is not from road traffic but poachers,“ the bench said. | ||
Revision as of 08:32, 22 January 2016
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
In brief: Tiger reserves, state-wise
From the archives of India Today , May 28, 2009
Ambreesh Mishra with Mihir Srivastava
The elegantly-worded and detailed website of the Madhya Pradesh Government’s Forest Department has but one missing element—the number of tigers to be found in its numerous national parks, sanctuaries and reserves. Odd, since Madhya Pradesh is considered India’s tiger country. Not odd at all though, if you take into account its dismal recent conservation record—and the unfortunate propensity of authorites to seek refuge in consistent, unyielding denial. The brutal truth, however, goes nowhere, even while the opposite happens to the state’s tigers. Four years ago, Sariska National Park in Rajasthan became the metaphor for the decimation of India’s national animal. The nightmare has now shifted location to Panna National Park in Madhya Pradesh. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) sent by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to probe reports of the disappearance of tigers from Panna confirmed early this month that there weren’t any male tigers left in the once-thriving tiger reserve. In a belated face-saving move, the state Government last week transferred directors of three national parks, including L.K. Chaudhary of Panna. The directors of Bandhavgarh and Kanha parks have also been transferred. It seems a cosmetic exercise though, as Chaudhary was posted only in August 2008. According to the Central SIT, the park was already devoid of the big cats by that time. The 2002 tiger census reported that Panna had 20 tigresses, 14 tigers and a cub. In 2004, a CBI inquiry confirmed that all tigers in Panna were dead even as forest officials maintained that the striped cats were very much alive. In April 2004, Belinda Wright, head of the Wildlife Protection Society of India, filed a writ petition with the Central Empowered Committee constituted by the Supreme Court. She highlighted the alarming loss of tiger population in the park due to poaching, extensive burning and quarrying. After the Sariska tragedy hit the headlines, the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department had claimed in December 2005 that according to their last count in March that year, there still were 34 tigers in the park. P.K. Sen, the SIT’s chief, however, suspects that tigers may have vanished from Panna altogether by the end of 2008. In March 2009, two tigresses were transported to Panna from Bandhavgarh and Kanha parks after being tranquilised. Wildlife officials were hoping to find mates for the lone surviving tiger in the reserve. Their drive to promote breeding in Panna was futile once it became clear that the ‘lone surviving’ tiger in Panna’s wilderness had not survived the cull. Late in April, a SIT team made up of S.P. Yadav, Joint Director of NTCA, and Qamar Qureshi, senior scientist of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, held extensive public hearings in villages and dwellings around Panna National Park. The denial by locals about tiger sightings flew in the face of the claims by authorities about the presence of the lone male tiger in Panna. The 2002 census, based on pug mark identification, stated that there were three tigresses for every 100 sq km in Panna. Then in 2006, a census revealed there were three tigers for each tigress, an alarming reverse, technically impossible within such a short time. In May that year, locals reported being unable to sight even one striped cat. All the time, forest officials claimed otherwise. In 2006, wildlife conservationist Raghunandan Singh Chundawat had warned the Government about the dwindling tiger population in Panna. He was shouted down, with the Government producing its own census figure and claiming that Chundawat was raising the bogey of missing tigers only because he had been slapped with a hefty fine by the Forest Department for the use of an elephant. The animal, the Government said, had been sought for scientific research but was used to shoot a commercial documentary instead. It is now clear that in Chundawat’s case, Madhya Pradesh wildlife authorities, in a desperate bid to cover up their own sins, were merely shooting the messenger. It worked for four years but the shocking neglect and apathy have finally caught up with the state’s Forest Department. Early this year, a Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) team found signs of tiger habitation in Panna but failed to sight the big cat. Their experience confirmed the version of local tour operators that tiger sightings had dwindled alarmingly. In March, experts from WII,who were camping in Panna to carry out a census, tentatively confirmed the worst fears of conservationists—at the most only one tiger was left there. The decision to relocate tigresses from Bandhavgarh and Kanha to Panna was then made, a tacit admission by the department that the big cat had been run out or hunted down from Panna’s forests. A local now says that one of the tigresses brought in to the reserve was already pregnant. This, he says, was a deception devised by forest officials to allow them to claim that there was a male tiger in Panna, when, in his estimation, the last tiger disappeared from Panna in 2008. The reason behind their disappearance was most probably unchecked poaching. If the tigers had left the habitat due to an imbalance in the natural cycle, relocated tigers would leave too. Even as the NTCA formed the SIT to investigate the Panna episode, the MOEF wrote to the Madhya Pradesh Government, suggesting that a committee be formed to probe the tiger disappearances from Panna. Meanwhile, the state Government is targeting Sen for allowing the news of the purge of Panna into the public domain. Rather than introspect on his department’s negligence, Additional Chief Secretary, Forests, Prashant Mehta, has written to the Centre, complaining that the SIT shouldn’t have made such disclosures publicly. The messenger has already been shot. The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, created at the behest of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by amending the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, has seemingly failed to rein in poaching and related offences. A year after it was founded on June 6, 2007, the bureau is still grappling with manpower issues. Against a sanctioned staff of 110, only 25 personnel have been recruited. Rina Mitra, chief of the bureau, says, “It has been a bumpy ride to integrate forest, police and customs officials to combat wildlife crimes.” The state Government has set up a separate probe committee for Panna, which is yet to begin investigations. This slow response reflects the establishment’s attitude to the alarming rate at which the tiger is being hunted down. The problem continues to grow: there have been six unexplained deaths in the state’s Kanha Tiger Reserve. “Kanha is showing early signs of Panna,” warns Chundawat. Tiger country is slowly but surely losing its stripes. Fading stripes
• In 2004, it was discovered that Sariska had no tigers. By 2008, all big cats were gone from Panna. • The last tiger census of 2005 put the number of tigers in Panna at 34. • A special investigative team found that officials had tried to camouflage the truth about Panna. • There have also been six unexplained tiger deaths over the past six months in Kanha.
1973: Project Tiger
India Today December 29, 2008
The Rs 230-lakh Project Tiger was a Union Government and the World Wildlife Fund joint endeavour in 1973, to check immediate threats to the national animal. “It registered a marked increase in most animal populations in the first decade” (India Today, December 1983). With 1,550 sq km under its canopy, including 15 sanctuaries and national parks, the project cordoned off a third of this land for conservation activities and demarcated the rest as a buffer area, relocating the villages around.
1999-2015: Population
2006-2014: High growth
Jan 21 2015
2,226 now: Tiger numbers grow by 30% in 4 years Camera trap and DNA sampling methods used in tiger census
Vishwa Mohan
There are more than 2,200 tigers in India's forests, the latest census reveals, indicating a sharp 30% rise in four years that'll come as a big boost to India's conservation efforts. The census, held in 2014, found evidence for 2,226 tigers, compared to 1,706 in 2010.
The southern states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the Western Ghats landscape recorded nearly one-third of the country's total number of big cats. Karnataka continues to have the highest number of tigers in India, itself home to 70% of the world's tiger population.The Mudumalai-BandipurNagarhole-Wayanad forest complex in Western Ghats holds the world's largest tiger population, with 570 tigers. If one compares the 2006 tiger census, when mod ern methodology was adopted for the first time, revealing a tiger population of just 1,411 -the overall increase across the country is a phenomenal 800-odd tigers in the past eight years.
Releasing the 2014 data on Tuesday , Union environment and forests minister Prakash Javadekar said, “We must be proud of our legacy . We have increased the number of tigers by over 30% from the last count (in 2010). “ A total of 3,78,118 sq km of forest area in 18 states, having tiger population, was surveyed during the census that used `double sampling' approach including ground survey and remote camera trapbased capture and recapture technique. Besides, scat DNA sampling method was also used for corroboration in many forest areas.
More than 9,730 cameras were used in the exercise, carried out by National Tiger Conservation Authority in collaboration with the state forest departments, national conservation NGOs and Wildlife Institute of India.
The exercise resulted in 1,540 individual tigers being photographed -making it the most authentic report on tiger population in the country.
The report shows that the tiger population has increased in Karnataka, Utta rakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the past four years, while it has decresed in Odisha and Jharkhand.
Poaching: 2012-2014
The Times of India, May 15 2015
In 2012-14, poaching has resulted in the deaths of 74 tigers in the country. The data for poaching, including seizure of tiger organs, shows that 23 tigers, or about 31% of the total, were killed inside tiger reserves while 51 were killed outside these reserves. A state-wise analysis of the data shows that the highest number of tigers were killed in Maharashtra followed by Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, each of these states witnessing over 10 deaths in these three years Source: Ministry Of Environment, Forest And Climate Change, * including Telangana.
Predator attacks
February 19, 2015
Man-eater killed by a joint Kerala-Tamil Nadu Special Task Force in the Gudalur forests along the Nilgiris-Wayanad border after attempts to tranquilise and relocate it for eight days failed. The tiger claimed two victims. National Tiger Conservation Authority norms were allegedly overlooked.
December 29, 2014
A relocated man-eater was killed in Khanapur Taluka of Belgaum, Karnataka, by the state Anti-Naxal Force after it mauled a pregnant woman in the Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary in Chikkamagaluru district.
August 20, 2014
Tiger shot dead in Chichpalli range of Chandrapur, Maharashtra, by sharpshooters. Seven people had been mauled to death by tigers in six months in Pombhurna village. There was dispute over whether the right man-eater was killed.
December 6, 2013bb
Man-eater was tranquilised and caged in Bandipur, Karnataka, by veterinarians tracking it. It had claimed three lives in surrounding villages. It has been relocated to the Mysore zoo.
5. December 2, 2012
Tiger was shot dead in a coffee plantation in Moolamkavu, Wayanad, by Special Task Force officers. Its victims were a dozen cattle. Maneka Gandhi claimed that the shooting was a "cause to wind up the Wildlife Department" as the tiger was not a man-eater.
2015 (Jan-July): Tiger deaths
The Times of India, Aug 12 2015
Neha Madaan
India loses 41 tigers in 7 mths
Poisoning by villagers, poachers' traps claiming big cats' lives
Tiger deaths persisted in the country despite the Union and state governments' efforts towards conservation. The country lost close to 41 tigers from January until August 9 this year, similar to the count in the same period in 2014, reveals data from National Tiger Conservation Authority and TRAFFIC-India, the wildlife trade monitoring network. The data revealed tigers are dying not just from natural causes, but are also being shot to death by authorities in case of man-animal conflicts.
According to the data, till August 9, 2014, Maharashtra reported three tiger deaths.Among these, one tiger was shot dead by sharp shooters of the Chandrapur police. The count of dead tigers in the state has reached five this year.
Vikas Kharge, secretary Revenue and Forest Department (Forests), told TOI that choosing actor Amitabh Bachchan as the ambassador for its tiger conservation projects is likely to have a positive outcome. “We are yet to finalize the modalities. He is a tiger lov er and his involvement in the project will have a unique appeal for the masses,“ he said.
Kharge added that incidents of tiger poaching have declined in Maharashtra due to an increase in the number of protection measures undertaken. “A special tiger protection force, comprising a team of 120 personnel, has been employed in each of the four reserves of the state. For locals' involvement in saving tigers, we have set up village eco-development committees for community participation in conservation of forest and tigers,“ he said.
States that have reported the maximum number of tiger deaths include Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
In 2014, another cause of death cited was poaching by poisoning using organophosphorous compounds. Other causes included cardio-respiratory failure and retaliatory killing by electrocution near Dhamokar at Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, MP.
Famous tigers
The Times of India, 14 Jul, 2015
Tigers like Ranthambore's T24 have been hitting headlines of late for attacking humans. Here are famous big cats from around the country.
Machli
One of Ranthambore National Park’s most famous tigers, Machli (T16) has been the subject of a number of documentaries and films and received a clutch of awards. She’s known as the ‘Queen of Ranthambore’ and the ‘Lady of the Lakes’ and once dominated the entire jungle. A You Tube video of her battling and vanquishing a 14ft mugger has more than 5 million views. She’s now 19 years old, weak, toothless and possibly blind in one eye, and the park officials feed her to keep her alive.
Munna
Kanha Tiger Reserve’s most famous residents is a tiger called Munna, who can quite easily be identified by his stripes. The marks on his forehead seem to spell out ‘CAT’ and tiger lovers say the ‘PM’ below stands for prime male. Munna has a reputation for following safari vehicles until they pull off the track.
Bamera Male
The son of Bandhavgarh National Park’s best known tiger B2 or Sundar, who died in 2011, this dominant tiger is known only as Bamera male. The story is that he left the reserve he was born in but returned a few years later to battle his father and take it over.
Shivaaji
One of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve’s most famous big cats is the dominant male, Shivaaji. The 13-year-old tiger, known for his bulk and aggression, can usually be seen in a 50sqkm area of the southern I Kolsa range of the park.
An increase, Uttar Pradesh
Rise in No. of tigers in Uttar Pradesh
The Times of India TNN | Jul 27, 2014
LUCKNOW: Camera traps have shown more tigers in the core area of Dudhwa tiger reserve this time. The initial estimates for two years, 2011 to 2013, have shown 72 to 80 tigers in the core area of the reserve.
Tiger census 2010-11 had counted 118 tigers in Dudhwa reserve. "The final count this time might be around 125," said PCCF (wildlife), UP, Rupak De.
The findings have been sent to the Union ministry of environment and forest for screening, said the official.
Camera-trapping exercise has been done for Kishenpur wildlife sanctuary and Dudhwa national park which form core of the reserve. Initial findings have also come for Pilibhit forest division which is now a separate reserve.
In all, 72 to 80 tigers have been counted in these areas. Once figures for Katarniaghat wildlife sanctuary, North and South kheri forest division come, tiger numbers might go up to 125. The improved census technique could have resulted in more tigers getting recorded in camera.
It was an 'intensive' exercise as a pair of cameras was installed every 1.6 sq km of the core area. A pair of cameras was installed at 65 identified points in Kishenpur and at 206 identified points in Dudhwa national park.
The height at which cameras were mounted was also altered to record cubs, two-year old and less.
About a dozen new cubs have been recorded in camera.
At least 382 photographs have been downloaded from cameras installed in Kishenpur and Dudhwa national park.
Many of these photographs, said officials, could be 'repetitions' which is why the photographs would be screened. Tiger census is on since November 15 in the reserve.
UP has a major tiger population in Dudhwa tiger reserve comprising Dudhwa National Park (680 sq km), Kishenpur Sanctuary (204 sq km) and Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary (440 sq km); Pilibhit (720 sq km); North Kheri (350 sq km) and South Kheri (460 sq km).
Smaller tiger populations are present in Bijnor forests in west and Suhelwa (Gonda-Bahraich) and Sohagibarwa wildlife sanctuaries (Maharajganj) in east.
Tiger reserves in India: Valuation
Jan 22 2015
6 tiger reserves worth Rs 1.5L cr: Valuation study
Vishwa Mohan
In a first of its kind exercise, India has conducted economic valuation of six of its tiger reserves and placed their value at Rs 1,49,900 crore. The study has also noted that these six reserves have been generating annual monetary benefits worth Rs 7,970 crore. The six tiger reserves which were surveyed for this study are Corbett, Kanha, Kaziranga, Periyar, Ranthambore and Sundarbans.
India has 47 tiger reserves covering over 2% of the area and approximately 10% of the recorded forest area. Latest tiger census shows that India -which is home to 70% of world's tiger population -has a total of 2,226 tigers.
The valuation study, executed by Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal, at the behest of the environment ministry's National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), provides quantitative and qualitative estimates of benefits accruing from tiger reserves which include economic, social and cultural services.
“The study findings indicate that the monetary value of flow benefits emanating from selected tiger reserves range from Rs 830 crore to Rs 1,760 crore annually . In terms of unit area, this translates into Rs 50,000 to Rs 190,000 per hectare per year,“ said the summary of the report released simultaneously with the tiger census by the Union environment and forests minister Prakash Javadekar.
Buxa Tiger Reserve: "No sign of tigers"
Apr 27 2015
Krishnendu Mukherjee
The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) scientists who conducted a nationwide tiger census over four years have stated in their final report that they found no sign of tigers in the north Bengal park. “Though two tigers were identified in Buxa on the basis of scat-based DNA, our research team has found no tiger sign in the forest,“ says the report, which was recently submitted to the ministry of environment and forests According to the findings, the Buxa tiger population is “declining“ and needs special attention. The Dehradun-based research institute has also questioned the authenticity of the scat samples sent to it by the Bengal forest department.“We took the GPS coordinates of the scat samples from the state foresters and sent our research team there,“ said Y V Jhala, a senior scientist at the institute. “But the team didn't find any tiger sign in and around those areas. So, we could not authenticate the origin of the scats.“
Earlier, there were allega tions that such scat samples were collected from a wildlife rescue centre located near the tiger reserve. A cameratrap exercise, started in Buxa more than a year ago, has also failed to capture any image of tigers. The same exercise, though, has brought to light the existence of rare and elusive animals such as the clouded leopard, marbled cat and Himalayan serow in the reserve.
A separate study by WII, however, has found the movement of about nine tigers in the corridor between Buxa and Assam's Manas Tiger Reserve.
Ranthambore National Park: Rajasthan
Movement of humans more important than tigers: SC
The Times of India, Jan 21 2016
Dhananjay Mahapatra SC: Development more important than tigers
The Supreme Court said that the conservation of tigers was important but it could not be done at the cost of movement of human beings from one place to another and general economic development of the country . The court was critical of NGOs which rush to challenge development projects, in this case four-laning of the 37-km-stretch of NH-7 between Nagpur and Jabalpur passing through Pench tiger reserve.
The issue had led to a tug of war between the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court, which had suo motu taken up the issue of widening of NH-7, and the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which claimed to have sole jurisidiction over environ mental issues. Both passed orders that ran counter to each other, leaving the officials of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in a Catch-22 situation. If they obeyed one, they committed contempt of another.
The SC settled the conflict and said the HC would be the forum to deal with the roadwidening issue. A bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justices A K Sikri and R Banumathi was highly critical of NGOs, including Conservation Action Forum, which had challenged the road-widening project on the ground that it would seriously impede the traditional migration routes of tigers in the reserve.
The bench said, “Tigers are important. But what happens to the movement of traffic? It is not the first time that a national highway is passing through a reserved forest. We are for protecting tigers.“
“Have you all filed any PIL against poaching? Why don't you go and work with those people working at the ground level to protect tigers from poachers? You jump to litigation whenever there is a development project. File a PIL on how to prevent poaching. Real danger to tiger is not from road traffic but poachers,“ the bench said.
