Tigers are not out of the woods yet

Economic Times

2 days ago

Synopsis
India faced a severe decline in its tiger population post-independence. Project Tiger helped increase the numbers significantly. Now, the tiger population is over 3,700. Balancing tourism and conservation is a key challenge. Protecting villagers' interests is also important. The threat of poaching and the Chinese market remains. India needs innovative solutions for tiger conservation.
Agencies The figures speak for themselves. In 1947, India's human population was 340 million and there were an estimated 40,000 tigers; when Project Tiger was launched in 1973, there were just 268 of them left although humans in India had nearly doubled to 584 million by then. So, since Independence 1,600 tigers had been killed per year, more than during the British Raj actually, although it was the white sahibs who had made large-scale hunting of the big feline a fashionable "sport".Till it was banned in 1972, people may recall that shikar was a tourism draw in India, with "game hunters" coming to shoot these magnificent animals, much as they kill lions in Africa now. That was probably justified then (as it is in some countries in Africa even now) as a legitimate economic activity, as there's such a "surplus" of them. What is a surplus? Surely if any species is "surplus" right now, it's humans but sport is not considered a way to remedy this.Hunting for "sport" or pleasure not food was always a pastime for Indian monarchs. But in the 19th century it became so democratised that every burra sahib, feudal and local notable worth his khidmatgars shot tigers, leopards and even the cheetah (the latter to extinction) by the mid-20th century. And to this day, hundreds of stuffed animals or their skins and heads adorn old forts, palaces and mansions. But people cringe at the very idea of displaying human skulls. Why?The human population of India has quadrupled from the 1947 figure to a whopping 1.4 billion now, but the tiger population has also increased over 10 times from 1972's abysmal three-figure to over 3,700 now. That we have managed to do this is nothing short of amazing even though there are alarming photos all the time of hordes of noisy, camera-wielding desi tourists in our tiger reserves and national parks. And that highlights a piquant dichotomy.Listening to retired Forest Service stalwarts speaking on World Tiger Day at the Tollygunge Club in Kolkata last week, it was clear that unless people feel invested in tigers, they will not be motivated to protect them. The official focus, of course, is on villagers who live next to tiger reserves and often feel sidelined in favour of the endangered species. Their concerns-especially regarding compensation for families of those killed by tigers-are being addressed so that they do not regard the animals as enemies or harbingers of death and financial ruin. But what about the millions of tourists?
Roads cutting through core areas, more vehicles accessing sanctuaries and staying longer hours inside, hotels hemming in the jungle and the sheer pressure of human interest in tigers and other large wildlife like lions, rhinos, elephants, gaud (bison) are scary developments. But the monetary lure of the insatiable Chinese market for wild tiger parts is also a perennial threat. So, could curtailing public access in order to protect tiger habitats then actually aid poaching?India's human population growth has slowed hugely; we now have to continue to demonstrate to the world the efficacy of our different approach to "managing" wildlife too. When India banned the fashionable "sport" of hunting and decided to save the tiger, the world sniggered. Seeing 268 become 3,700, they cannot deny the success of Project Tiger. With the Chinese spectre always looming, India also needs to think imaginatively now to resolve the current tiger-tourism conflict too.