Will Tiger be Extinct in India?

Tiger Population Decline

The beast surely faced a big risk of being extinct in India but with sufficient conservative initiative, the outlook seems promising.  From perhaps less than 1400 tigers in the country, the population now touches around 3000. This has certainly been no small achievement.   

Tiger Population 20th 

At the turn of the 20th century, the estimated population of big cats was more than a hundred thousand spread all over the country. This was the period in which hunting had started on a large scale and habitats were being replaced with agriculture or commercial forestry. Although the impact was not immediate the rot had set in and led to further damage whence monetary incentive was doled out to kill wild animals in India by the ruling British to get rid of the vermin in which the tiger was also included.  This was disastrous as animals like wolves, jackals, hyenas, foxes, leopards, and tigers were culled in large numbers. 

Hunting by the elites was a major scourge that added to this massacre and it was responsible for local extinction at many places.  

Indian Tiger

Post Independence 

Post-independence the population had come down strikingly low from estimated forty thousand to + - 1400. The die was cast and something had to be done if this magnificent predator had to make a return. Thankfully India had become a republic  (1950 ) the British had left and the local realms had been included in the newly born republic with no administrative controls.         

Under the new domain, the animals continued to be hunted, and their habitats are taken over by humans for agrarian purposes. The fast-growing population was making its presence felt and hungry stomachs had to be fed. This lead to an extensive takeover of wild habitats in all types of ecosystems to facilitate agriculture and to settle the ever-growing communities. This was one of the main reasons for the reduction in the population of tigers in India. The habitats were trampled over thoughtlessly to feed the masses. 

Commercial Forestry in India      

Systemic exploitation of forests is a recent phenomenon in India if the historic time scale is taken into account. Perhaps it all started post-1850 whence commercial forestry began during the Raj. This also implies that large-scale forests were cleared in India for commercial purposes accentuated by the industrial revolution in Great Britain.   

Commercial Forestry Slide Show

Extensive deforestation in the country took place from 1880 onward to 1920. There are many reasons for extensive deforestation during British rule but we should also take into the account overflowing population and the subsequent need for food and settlement. 

Deforestation, commercial exploitation, and human takeover of ecosystems continued in the country till the rot stemmed somewhat. But by the time corrective action had been taken the tiger population in the country had come down drastically and extinction seemed inevitable. 

Tigers were still hunted under license, and one could shoot the predator in the allotted area for a price as low as Rs.45 less than 1 $.  This bewildering anomaly in the system was caused by little understanding of nature especially wildlife and forests that maintained an equilibrium capable of sustaining life including that of humans. 

Nevertheless, India is a country with a strong conservation ethos that was inculcated during the Vedic Era some five thousand plus years back. 

Wildlife Protection Act 1972

In 1972 corrective action was taken in form of the Wildlife Protection Act. which prohibited the killing of all animals except those that fell under the purview of livestock. This was a wonderful law the effect of which is quite prevalent now. Wild animal populations are on the rise everywhere in the country and the incidence of poaching has come down. The Act also accords protection to floral elements.    

Under this Act, there are provisions to notify the area as sacrosanct. This has led to the creation of Protected Areas. The PAs are divided into an inviolate core zone which is the critical tiger habitat and buffer or eco-sensitive zone. The latter is an outer ring with some restrictions where the source population can settle down in case of a lack of territory. 

Project Tiger Program 1973

NTCA or National Tiger Conservation Authority is at the helm of Project Tiger. The policies are framed under this organization. This body also regulates overseas tiger tourism in conjunction with State Governments and with the participation of local bodies. 

Although the implementation of this conservative initiative was done euphemistically there were periods of complacency till cases of mass killing of tigers in Panna and Sariska shook the Nation. The program has been successful of late with the population rising to 3000 in about fifty tiger reserves spread across the country.     

Survival of Tiger in India

The most important factor that will help the animal survive is political will. Political initiatives taken at the top are important for the survival of this critically endangered species. This becomes imperative in case of the strong impetus for urbanization and industrialization taking place at the present juncture. The ruling dispensations, the policymakers within should accord immense consideration for natural area preservation without any concession to unplanned development and resource extraction agenda.    

Preservation of tiger habits is imperative to save the species besides as much increase as possible of the core area. Thus the protected areas with inviolate cores are of utmost importance and should remain till eternity in the habitats now terribly constricted by humans and their overpopulated livestock. 

But PAs are not eternal...in case of political infringement if the status is diluted or abrogated that would lead to certain extinction of the tiger. Although a strong framework guarantees the prevention of such anomalies it is all under the control of humans. There are no natural factors or barriers that prevent the violation of critical tiger habitats the predator is entirely at the mercy of humans. 

Creation of corridors, although this has been construed as vital for the prevention of inbreeding and to accord free movement to wildlife the implementation is at best on paper. A strong political will is required in order to relocate settlements from these sensitive and fragile habitats that could form a viable connection. But mass relocation seems to be too overwhelming for the system.   

In India, there is a tribe of organizations that are strong detractors of the inviolate core area concept and often act as a pressure group against the implementation of strong conservative measures.  

Understanding the behavioral characteristics of tigers is very important. As an ambush hunter, it is dependent upon the thick canopy of dense forest and tall grasslands and thus this virtue makes it vulnerable to habitat degradation since it cannot survive in the open country unlike the leopard and the lion.      

Political initiatives are imperative at all levels of administration, especially in the vicinity of the PAs. The initiatives should be favorable towards conservation and prevent biotic interference and commercialization. 

Albeit the forest management in charge of PAs is efficient and dedicated...lacunae in the system should be amended and corrupt elements should be weeded out.  

Poaching through reduced due to stringent patrolling is still an issue and cases of electrocution, snaring, and hunting are still prevalent. Tigers are being lost annually in such incidences. The demand for bones and parts of the big cats is very much prevalent in countries wherever TCM is popular. Thus the threat of poaching and resultant illegal trade in wildlife looms large over our tiger landscapes.   

Eco-development is playing a key role in preventing the alienation of local communities which play a major conservation role in and around the PAs.  Economic development through employment and empowerment is essential in this aspect and tourism and jobs in the forest department are playing a vital role.  

India has a long way to go in order to save the tiger eternally. Although the present trend of increasing population is exhilarating there is no room for complacency.   

Will the tiger be extinct in India?

No! This, if the current trend is taken into consideration and corrective measures are vigorously implemented. The animal will survive until in unforeseen circumstances the threat becomes a reality.   

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Uday Works as Freelance Naturalist and Blogs on conservation, tigers, environmental issues.

He also provides SEO and Website Contents in English. He teaches Digital Marketing in Jabalpur in Summers.

He can be contacted at:

Mail: pateluday90@hotmail.com
 Mob: 09755089323

              

Conservation: It's Pay Back Time

Our  Earth: A Saga of Exploitation

Not only extensive farming, poaching, wood logging, and hunting have denuded our wilds we conveniently seek to forgive our sins whence it comes to breakneck industrial revolution and urbanization. Like agriculture, large industries and industrial estates scrap off nature from Earth in long strips along with associated urbanization in our towns and cities. 

In the past few centuries, we have hastened the demise of many invaluable ecosystems to alternate them with nonviable human constructs and the process goes on. The developed countries have been quick to extensively exploit natural resources and strip off ecosystems forests, grasslands, and rivers to name a few in order to develop in material terms without digging deep into ramifications. Most countries are stripped of natural lands and they have virtually exterminated their wilderness. But there is no looking back,  and if there is at places it is weak and without commitment. As a consequence, we are facing climate change and species extinction due to the dismembering of remaining ecosystems, pollution, human intrusions, and alternating natural systems to suit our exigencies.             

Earth is supposed to be shared among trillions of life forms thus maintaining an equilibrium so that life sustenance mechanism remains inviolate. Large chunks of ecosystems have been decimated for crops without any circumspection, and industrialization, and urbanization is taking place with haste. We are turning settlements into cement jungles and urban ghettos. 

All we look at is modern infrastructure and the gleaming societies and lifestyles they generate forgetting the dead that lies beneath. The industrial revolution has been a major disaster and caused wars innumerable, social disparities as well as grave harm to the environment. Global warming is an evident phenomenon among even those who are not erudite or aware, and the suffering is taking a toll in terms of health physical and mental.   

It is difficult to hinder this blitzkrieg because dispensations do not bow down and at the most pay lip service to conservation. Maintaining an equilibrium would require some committed steps for preservation even if the infrastructure buildup is halted. We simply cannot regenerate the complex living systems that nature does. This is rabid development is the trend everywhere, and most vicious in overpopulated countries trying to emerge from ongoing poverty without understanding the route they are adopting. As urban ghettos increase poverty will as well for we see life not as sustainable but gauge impoverished societies keeping the yardstick of measure highlighting disparity with those well developed (sic). There is no limit to the demands of humanity, and we will perish if we fulfill them at the cost of nature. Are we going to need artificial glass bubbles with oxygen supplies to survive on Earth in the future?       

To keep industries alive and the economy booming we continue to exploit natural resources which are already dwindling. In economic haste, we are not using the resources in a judicious manner, and are not at all looking for renewable on a war footing. Development is the mantra of disaster and the infrastructure built up in hinterlands in countries like India is a scourge with no mitigation seemingly possible. Rather than judging the economy by scale, we must peep into the environmental disaster we are leaving in the wake. We need to define our basic needs and stick to them.         

Poverty alleviation should not come about through the industrial revolution, it should come by rational use of renewable energy and a paradigm shift in our lifestyles. Too much energy consumption or unprecedented use of natural resources has wreaked havoc on our planet and we need to stem the rot. The major stress factor is not poverty but our excessive consumption of fossil fuels and other natural resources. Controlling the population is wise but there is no such urgency among various countries and demographics. Population control should be imperative, especially in Asia and Africa.         

Time to Pay Back 

We need reforestation, conservation of wildlife, habitat repair, and preservation of the ecosystem that supports them, and to stop the destruction of tropical forests going on on large scale.  We will have to redefine our lifestyle and consumption pattern and wean out what is unsustainable with vigor and commitment.     

We will have to have a methodology in place as far as industrialization and infrastructure build-up is taking place. We will have to draw out sustainable plans and practices which mitigate damage to natural lands.  Yes a lot more has to be done in order to preserve our  Earth and the efforts should come about not only from institutions but we the public as well.  

We can do it, we are successfully saving the tiger and the lion and many other endangered species and India has also preserved good enough ecosystems. There is hope! 

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Uday Works as Freelance Naturalist and Blogs on conservation, tigers, environmental issues.

He also provides SEO and Website Contents in English.

He can be contacted at:

Mail: pateluday90@hotmail.com

 Mob: 09755089323

    

Use of Animal Parts in Medicine

India 

I remember whence in the days before legislation I saw my first tiger, it was a dead one, killed at Noradehi WLS in Madhya Pradesh near Jabalpur. The body was lying in front of my porch and a cobbler was skinning the poor predator stripped off all his glory and of his precious fat. The fat, the cobbler told me will be used to stem arthritis pain (sic).

Nevertheless, I do not hear much about medicines made from animal parts in India, but the practice still lingers albeit in small quarters. In India thankfully, Ayurveda is popular and it stresses the vegetative matter - herbs, shrubs, trees, fruits, roots, leaves, and barks and minerals to be used as medicine. This probably weans us away from medicine made from wild animals to a good extent.  However, people still possess big cat claws in India as talismans or as a matter of pride. This practice though illegal still persists clandestinely it has to be discouraged.   

Chinese System of Medicine

The scourge emanates from the TCM systems widespread and prevailing for ages. There is a number of animal farms in China making medicine from tigers and rhinos to name a few. Although the country stresses strict regulatory practices to curb the use of wild animals the system of medicine is so overcoming that the country is a threat to wild animals, especially tigers all over the globe. 

TCM has predated heavily on rhinos and tigers across the globe and is responsible for their endangered status. In India, the threat is at a high level with organized poachers using safe conduits or porous borders to smuggle tiger bones to in-demand areas like China. Ironically the effectiveness of animal medicines usually consumed through culinary mediums, powders, and liquids has not been proven at all. Hence it is the responsibility of countries of consuming the populace to stem the rot through legal means and awareness programs.  

To better understand the prevalence of such practices one needs to study the cultural ethos of that country. However chauvinistic this may sound many countries in the World have no regard for wilderness and do not practice conservation but rather allow the decimation of wild species within their borders. Many countries just pay lip service to conservation many do not care at all.    

The most significant impact accrues from the TCM where a large number of animal parts are smuggled illegally from all over the World. The policy of control in China is impractical and vacillates the country is not at all serious about the havoc TCM is causing rather there are proponents that favor it.  This erratic healing practice is having a negative impact on a large number of species including dogs, snakes, pangolins, bears, tigers, rhinos, deer, antelope, seahorses, and sharks....there is a long list that informs us of the number of species that is being exterminated by this ancient healing practice. 

Other Animals Victimized

Bear in Vietnam and China are imprisoned and their bile is extracted for medicinal purposes. This is illegal but the trade is carried out clandestinely.    

Elephant tusks are used for creating artifacts in Japan & China and as traditional medicine in China and many other parts of the World. A large number of pachyderms in Africa and Asia are under severe threat due to this practice.   

Musk Deer the liquid exuded from musk deer scent pods are used in perfumery but these animal parts are also used in TCM. 

Pangolin is extensively used in TCM for various medicinal preparation. The species is on verge of extinction and may not survive more than a few decades. 

Medicinal Practices Using Wild Animals 

This practice is widely prevalent including in India but unlike TCM the impact is local and subject to legal action if discovered. An incredible number of life forms are subjected to torture and killing for their parts having a medicinal value which is usually not verified.  Most of the practices are now losing ground since the restrictions and unavailability are discouraging. 

Organized poaching is resulting in the extermination of many species on Earth and the maximum blame is accorded to TCM.