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| Tiger - Uday Patel |
Recently whence it was opinionated in a conservation meeting that the tiger population in India would be contained within a limit this was no fanciful or extreme critical conjecture. The speaker Dr. Rajesh Gopal is an eminent tiger conservationist and erstwhile field director of Kanha and Bandhavgarh tiger reserves. He now heads as Director of Project Tiger under NTCA. While a lot many aspects of tiger conservation are in the know, little attention is paid to the spacing mechanism of this critically endangered species.
The upcoming census figures yet to be released may provide us with an elated announcement but the axe on species is nowhere off. Due to better census methodologies and logistics and of course, stringent conservation practices in the core of many tigers reserves the population is estimated to go up and perhaps touch a figure of three thousand adults. In 1910 the figure stood at a dismal 1400 plus and in the year 1914, it was above two thousand two hundred. But in spite of this success, many questions remain unanswered.
It is difficult to state whence and at what level population the tiger would come out of being endangered since the survival factors are far more complex than we realize, and the big cat population will always be subjected to the attitude of contemporary Governments, and their policies vis a vis environment and conservation.
The crux of the statement was that tiger population growth in India would be constrained severely due to limited space. The availability of space is a crucial factor in the spread of the species with an individual need of several square kilometers. The space constraint also limits the transmigration of the species as it is wont to do by nature. The space factor is also bound consequently with the availability of a healthy prey base.
In short, the space constraint would prove a severe impediment to tiger conservation in India. This is ironic since we have plenty of forests out of the purview of the tiger reserve where the animal can move in but they are in a dismal state.
The reserve forests as they are classified lack an adequate prey base as well as good forest cover. They do not comprise an ecosystem in a perfect state of preservation and are subject to misuse. They are subject to wood logging, cattle grazing to the extreme, and poaching. Well in many places wildlife has already been hunted down by people. The overflow of wild animals from the protected area does not receive much protection since some locals are wont to hunt. This has been seen even in the buffer regions of the tiger reserves where wild animals are subjected to electrocution, snaring, and hunting. The biotic pressures are not welcoming by any means either.
The reserve forests as they are classified lack an adequate prey base as well as good forest cover. They do not comprise an ecosystem in a perfect state of preservation and are subject to misuse. They are subject to wood logging, cattle grazing to the extreme, and poaching. Well in many places wildlife has already been hunted down by people. The overflow of wild animals from the protected area does not receive much protection since some locals are wont to hunt. This has been seen even in the buffer regions of the tiger reserves where wild animals are subjected to electrocution, snaring, and hunting. The biotic pressures are not welcoming by any means either.
In this dispensation or rather a consequent one little attention was and is paid to the endangered species whence the development imperative arises. Strips of forests, a wide range of habitats, and crucial water bodies are subject to pressure without a second thought. Hence from where and how will the accrual of space take place?
Until more forests are subject to intense regeneration and protection the very idea of a large population of big cats surviving in the country seems chimerical. The tiger requires a specialized habitat with a perfect ecosystem in place.
Thankfully such spaces already present have been and are being brought under protection in this country and that is the saving grace. But the buck should not stop here. A more proactive and concerned approach is required to fetch the National animal out of the quandary it presently is in. This should start right from the doorsteps of the ruling dispensation along with the involvement of the administration and the bureaucracy and yes the civil society meaning us.
Thankfully such spaces already present have been and are being brought under protection in this country and that is the saving grace. But the buck should not stop here. A more proactive and concerned approach is required to fetch the National animal out of the quandary it presently is in. This should start right from the doorsteps of the ruling dispensation along with the involvement of the administration and the bureaucracy and yes the civil society meaning us.
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Uday Works as a Naturalist at Kanha National Park.
Contact: pateluday90@hotmail.com
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