The tiger, one of the most revered and feared of all the big cats is surely facing extinction in a land as diverse as the cat itself. The sheer strength and ferocity of this killer cat has never ceased to amaze us. Since aeons this majestic cat has been an epitome of grace beauty and power .The very savage animals with dagger like canines and claws that tear in to the flesh of its victims turn into tender loving parents for their babies.

The recent statistics are definitely not encouraging and is sure to give the government and the wildlife experts many a sleepless nights. I have my own doubts about the respective governments though. For over three decades THE PROJECT TIGER has been working since 1973 as a centrally sponsored scheme of government of India towards beefing up the tiger population and relocating tigers to various reserves. Initially the project was started with 9 tiger reserves covering an area of 16,339sq.km with a population of 268 tigers. At present there are 27 tiger reserves covering an area of 37761 sq.km with a population of 1498 tigers. This amounts to almost 1.14%of the total geographic area of the country . But even this seems to be agonizingly insufficient for these loners. But then in a country where every sq inch of land is worth its weight in gold this surely is like a dream come true for the tigers. The tiger numbers had definitely increased but off late there has been a stark dip in tiger numbers. The shocking revelations at Sariska National Park in Rajasthan where the tigers were butchered in broad day-light is one of the many acts of brutality against the tiger. The 06-07 censuses shows the staggering decline of this majestic feline numbers at Bandhavgarh NP in Madhya Pradesh. In 01-02 they numbered a very healthy 56 which has now dwindled to a mere 7. I wouldn’t for one be too surprised if there are none left as early as next year in the park. Apart from Kanha NP where the tiger numbers have been more or less steady the story at most reserves where the king once reined supreme doesn’t present a rosy picture.

The Environment and Forest ministry, which had contested the Wildlife Institute of India’s (WII) report that tigers are increasingly disappearing from the country has finally come to accept it. In a report that is sure to send the protagonists of tiger conservation into a tizzy the WII had recorded that there are merely 490 tigers in the 16 reserves of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, while the 2002 census had recorded 1233 tigers in these states. The most traumatizing decline of tigers has probably taken place in Chattisgarh where the 2002 census showed 227 tigers as opposed to a handful of them now placed at 26. The counting at Indravati reserve in Chattisgarh is still on. The story in M.P isn’t very different either, the state of M.P lost a ground-breaking 434 odd of these beautiful animals to the guns of poachers or were poisoned to death by the people from the villages surrounding the parks. This massacre of tigers begs a question??? Are tigers really safe here in India??? And if they are really safe and protected then where have these fearsome cats vanished in the past five years.

Tiger bones along with its skin and even the claws are in great demand in the South East Asian markets. Tiger bones have for long been used in traditional Chinese medicines and this very demand from the Chinese markets is slowly but steadily strangulating the Tigers here in India. This is because the Chinese have slaughtered all but a few of their wild tigers. To make matters worse according to reports China is lobbying hard for the Indian Government to legalize the trade in tiger parts. This has come in for some strong criticism from the public and the experts as the Indian Government has yet not given a definitive ‘NO’ to this offer from china. If this trade is to be made official it is sure to ring the death knell for this magnificent animal.

Tigers are classified according to the habitat they dwell in. There are eight tiger species like the Royal Bengal tiger, found in India and parts of south east Asia, the indo-Chinese found in parts of china and south east Asia, the Siberian tiger found in Siberia in Russia and south-east china. The Siberian tiger is the largest cat in the world with the males easily tipping the scale at 225-250 kilos. The Sumatran tiger is found in the Sumatran islands of Indonesia from where it derives its name. It is the smallest of all tigers with the males not weighing more than 120 kilos. Only about 400-500 of these tigers survive in the wild. The south-Chinese or Amoy tigers are found in central and eastern china and they number a mind-numbing 20-40 odd individuals making it the most endangered panthera Tigris species in the world. Until about 40 years ago nearly 4000 of these cats roamed the wild. The Caspian tigers once roamed Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Mongolia, and Central Asiatic area of Russia. The Balinese tiger prowled the landscape of Bali. The javan tiger lived of the Indonesian island of java. Of the above mentioned tiger species the Caspian, the Balinese and the Javan are already part of the history books. And it won’t be long before the other surviving species follow suit. Efforts are being made by International consevationists like John Varty along with Canadian Zoologist from the Bowmanville zoo near Toronto and a graduate of Laurentain University’s Biology honors program Dave Salmoni to introduce tigers at a field in South Africa. This is being done to make sure that if the tigers here in Asia are wiped out there will still be some tigers out there in the wild where they ought to belong.

I myself do not want to sound like an expert here which I m not because it’s a subject which I know smattering of, like most of us, but then one need not be an expert to know that the Tiger is in grave peril in a land where it was once worshipped and unless something is done pronto our future generations will get to view the great cat only in the books.

References:

1. http://projecttiger.nic. … uction.htm
2. http://newspostindia.com/report-1430
3. http://dsc.discovery.com … iners.html

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