Ecosystem Development: Saving The Sink Population of Tigers

Tiger conservation in India has expanded beyond the perspective of protected areas. Though PAs with inviolate space dedicated to other life forms are the best means to protect the source population of the big cats and will remain relevant for a long long time to come, the tiger's realm is an ever-expanding phenomenon. 

With the success of contemporary conservation practices and the increasing population of this tertiary predator, the paradigm is rapidly changing conservation needs and technology employed. This will challenge the approach and capabilities of wildlife managers and planners in our country. 

The recent induction (news) of funds into corridor development is one fine step for our Government. But will it be finely and boldly executed remains to be seen? Hopefully, there will be some curbs on liner development as well which intersect our reserves and natural lands. The creation of wildlife passages or corridors is a must to save and prevent inbreeding among migratory species. But for this purpose relocation of the human population has to take place which requires political will besides facing stiff opposition that will accrue from many quarters.   

Indian Tiger 

The tiger is a territorial animal and in case of the dearth of space or conflict it becomes peripatetic and thanks to recent findings a good one at that. Well, what this means is that the buck does not stop here at the core or in critical tiger habitats. The predator's realm is an ever-expanding one. 

As a naturalist, I have noticed local migration of tigers displaced by territorial conflicts now enhanced by expanding population. Hence in many cases pertaining to the disappearance of tigers, the reason is not internecine fights leading to death or an act of poaching. In order to avoid bloodshed the loser simply migrates to neighboring forests away from the core. 

In the neighboring region forests classified as buffers or reserves offer a stressful ecosystem to survive and mind you many of the displaced animals are not old but are capable of breeding and surviving their full lives. This is where the problems arise thanks to ensuing man-animal conflicts. But this is not the end of the story ....space is. 

Man-animal conflicts that result in a direct attack on humans are less compared to the acrimony generated due to the killing of livestock. The general feeling of insecurity instigated by the predator's presence further compounds the problem where this animal had lost ground earlier.

The vermin concept flouted during the Raj still infects our minds. 

The latter two are responsible for the poisoning of the big cats in the buffer. Electrocuting small games in the periphery of the reserves often leads to the death of this apex species. 

With increasing urbanization and infrastructure development, the metapopulation of big cats in tiger landscape and distant reserve forests are coming under severe stress. In the modern mind space, increased intolerance of carnivores in India is bound to take place unless the conservation ethos is rekindled. This concept of man-animal harmony is at best chimerical in the material world where the beast needs inviolate space and has no equity. 

Unlike in the periphery of tiger reserves where tourism income flows directly to the local populace the survival of dispersing metapopulation is difficult in areas devoid of connected income. Wildlife and ecosystems cannot survive without the sympathy of the local human population. It is difficult to curb the exploitation of reserve forests and killing of other life forms, and yes prevent man-animal conflicts, by implementing the law in isolation.    

If conservation practices result in the increase and spatial expansion of the big cat, problems compounding conservation practices will be enhanced. This gives rise to many questions?

Do we have the will to save this critically endangered species?

Does the country have the required political will to take the right measures to put aside appeasement and developmental urgencies?

Are we willing to further safeguard forests outside protected areas and prevent encroachment and poaching?

Will ecosystem development take place in habitats, not under the purview of protected areas?

Tigers need space and protection. A population increase that will extract the species from the brink will depend upon their survival in both PAs and outside. A comprehensive approach is therefore required from the Center and States not forgetting institutions involved in conservation research and practices.    

And we the people of India should also support it!

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Uday works as a naturalist and loves to write about conservation. 

Contact: pateluday90@hotmail.com

Mobile: 09755089323

  

Status Report 2018: Increasing Tiger Population in India

Count - 2018 Year--- 2967 Tigers

After a grind of many years, India finally experiences a meaningful increase in its tiger population. This is heartening after a dismal status that could have been well below fourteen hundred at the start of the Project Tiger Program in the seventies. The report is credible since a more scientific approach has been resorted to using diverse techniques including the camera traps.

A larger area has been brought under the scanner unearthing small unheard populations of the carnivore. The major benefit of this exercise of counting tigers is the unfolding of challenges in various or diverse landscapes. People's conservation efforts which come naturally due to traditional beliefs, myths, and ethos come to light thus a converging pool of conservation practices along with emerging scientific management principles. This ends up enhancing conservation logic and creating a consensus that helps put it into practice to save the tiger more effectively.  

Another factor that lends credibility to the report is the lack of fudging that went on in the past with some FDs exiting the management with a figure that was higher than before. This was farcical, and the population of the big cat in India was zooming well beyond its carrying capacity. This also showed the prerogative of the higher-ups and how easy was it to fudge.

Like the balloon that bursts whence a small pinprick, the truth came tumbling down after the debacle at Sariska and Panna National Parks two of the most prestigious tiger conservation units in India. 

From thirty-plus tigers within a short period, there were no tigers at all...all had been poached with extreme ease and comfort, and that too with the connivance of some forest officials as the newspapers reported. To counter the blame.. committees and inquiry commission all were set up more to whitewash the shameful than to find the truth. In our country, all horrific events eventually die down to be forgotten or to be sunk in ever delaying legal procedures and hordes of paper.  

Thankfully these events did not die down completely for it was the survival of one of the most charismatic species at stake, and India was at the forefront. But the most empowering factor was that India's prestige was at stake..the National Pride. The whole World looks at us as to what we are doing with our tigers.  

A comprehensive conservation model, ever-evolving was needed in the country, and thanks to concern and dedication we have been successful to a great extent in the cause. 

The debacle that happened at Sariska and Panna made it evident that India at that stage was ill-prepared to save the vanishing species ...the critically endangered tiger. 

The initiation of Project Tiger following the Wildlife Protection Act and the creation of Protected Areas with inviolate core lulled the management with complacency bolstered beyond reasoning by yearly fudging thus falsely increasing tiger numbers albeit only on paper year by year. 

Let us be honest fudging did not take place everywhere, the bloated figures were also due to the age-old methodology of counting the big cats. Many tiger reserves were in a nascent stage at that time and the conservation efforts then were lacking perhaps due to inexperience or lack of funds.        

Lets us say that tiger conservation in those days was in its infancy which was very true for the predator needed macro solutions and not many biological insights for its survival but the answers or solutions were not there at that time and if they did unfold the process was painstakingly slow. 

In the midst of the conservation efforts were some of our finest wildlife managers, and the dedicated staff in the reserves. International assistance also aided the conservation efforts. Institutes like WWF for Nature, WWI Dehradun, and a plethora of National and local conservation bodies now play an immense role in saving this beleaguered species.    

Space is a constraining factor with the human population bursting beyond the seam and dire economic challenge, an increasing tiger population is not an assurance of the animal's survival a Damocles Sword will always hang on the predator's head. 

Numbers though comforting and the increase much needed, survival of the tiger would always depend upon many factors and those constantly emerging...political will and conservation efforts being of utmost importance. 

Population dynamics in relation to the environment, humans, and our attitudes and policies will always be in a state of flux with population increase. The changing landscape and the encompassing environment will throw many new challenges and problems for saving the big cat. Are we prepared and well-focused?  Are we proactive enough?     

All that we do as a Nation, as a society, and even as individuals will have an impact on the survival quotient of the tiger.      

Tiger Status Report 2018

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Uday works as a naturalist in India and writes on tigers and their conservation.
Contact: pateluday90@hotmail.com
9755089323