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.   

===========================

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

              

Tiger Conservation : Space Constraint

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.   

Complacency has crept in with the creation of protected areas and we are subject to myopia that all will be well now. Though the creation of protected areas known as the tiger reserves has proven a boon for the conservation of this species and the biodiversity as a whole, it has also placed us in complacency and restricted our vision beyond the core of these realms.

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.    

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.     

====================

Uday Works as a Naturalist at Kanha National Park.

Contact: pateluday90@hotmail.com

Food Chain - Biotic/Abiotic Components & Tigers

Understanding Ecosystem in Tiger Landscapes 

The article's emphasis is on tigers surviving outside the protected areas in India. This is more of a simplification of the biotic components that prevail in an area highly stressed by human and livestock use.    

To understand this phenomenon we have to first understand the food chain in its simplest form. The food chain is best explained using a pyramid. 

How the creation and transfer of energy take place.  

1) At the lowest level are the autotrophs the living beings that use abiotic elements like sunlight, soil, water, and Co2 in order to produce energy. These are also called producers. Examples are plants, grass, herbs, shrubs, some microorganisms, and trees.   

2) Consumers or primary consumers subsist on the autotrophs so as to enable the transfer of energy. Herbivores are an example. Deer, Wild Ox, Bison, Elephants, Primates, and so on.    

3) Secondary Consumers are small predators and omnivorous creatures who subsist on primary consumers. Examples are foxes, jackals, wild dogs, raptors, etc. 

4) Tertiary Consumers are large predators which subsist on primary consumers and to some extent on secondary consumers.   Like Tigers, Lions, Cheetahs & Leopards, some bears, etc. These are also known as Apex predators, Normally these are designated as indicator species since their presence is a sign of a healthy ecosystem.    

5) Decomposers or scavengers feed on dead organisms they are small predators, hyenas, vultures, eagles, corvids, bacteria, and so on. 

Each layer from 2nd stage acts as a population control mechanism, in order to maintain an equilibrium in the environment. All components are instrumental in maintaining humidity/moisture and the composition of gases. Hence tigers are major control elements, and as top predators, they are indicators of a healthy ecosystem. I think this should justify conservation to all minds, Further understanding should arise by reading literature from acclaimed field biologists, conservationists, etc.    

When the tiger habitats contain a perfect ecosystem, the animal's survival is assured...in presence of protection from nefarious human activities like poaching. Land grab is another major threat to ecosystems all over. Niche habitats are destroyed by expanding human settlements, industrialization, and agriculture. We have lost large tracts of grasslands, marshlands, estuaries, rivers, marine ecosystems, and forests...all on a massive scale.    

In areas outside the critical tiger habitats, multiple pressure arises from agricultural practices, human habitation, livestock, and waste including toxic chemicals. The latter is a result of the widespread use of toiletries, fertilizers, and pesticides. Fumes emanating from vehicles, cooking, and noise pollution also contribute to damage to some extent. 

Livestock competes with natural inhabitants for vegetable matters and is instrumental in damaging the fragile ecosystem. They have been seen to easily outnumber the natural consumers reducing the prey base for predators including the tigers. In most of the buffer areas of our NPs the big cats are dependent on cattle and other livestock.  Besides conflict with man, they are susceptible to contagious diseases.

Tree felling in order to feed livestock is another practice that reduces the canopy. Denuded land is easily subject to loss of topsoil, and proliferation by weeds like parthenium or carrot grass and lantana.  As a result, altered weather can inhibit the breeding of tigers along with a reduced prey base. 

Another reason for denudation is our dependency on wood for energy, furniture, and construction.  In the past, clear felling was resorted for commercial logging resulting in wide-scale denudation as done by agricultural practices. Mining has the same impact as the latter besides contributing to hazardous environmental pollution.  

Hence we depend on tigers as well as all life forms for our survival plus not forgetting the purity of abiotic elements.  

Lack of planning has resulted in the indiscriminate use of our land and not leaving the niche habitats inviolate. As we aim for high economic growth further pressure is created. PAs are good examples of wise land use but we need this on a larger scale to preserve all that we can.   

Humans should minimize land use and let the Earth flourish. 

This article is in order to create an impressive group of thinkers, nature lovers, and environmentalists. A large voice/pressure group would mean the implementation of better policies that would save critically endangered species like the tiger in India and elsewhere.