TIGER POPULATION IN INDIA

THE dwindling number of tigers, which stood at a dismal 1,411 in the last census, has been a cause of concern for some time. In the light of the plummeting tiger population, the recent figures that show a perceptible increase is indeed reassuring. According to the latest tiger census, there are 1,706 big cats in the wild. While the growing number, which indicates that conservation efforts in the recent past have paid some dividends, is likely to gladden the hearts of conservationists, much more needs to be done to save the species on the verge of extinction.

Nearly a century ago India’s tiger population stood at a heartening 40,000. Over the years, poaching, deforestation and general apathy towards the majestic animal have threatened its existence. Despite ambitious projects like the Tiger Project launched way back in 1973, the big cat has been fighting for its survival. Fortunately, while earlier only the news of tiger killings would wake up the authorities, more recently there has been an attempt to drive home the tiger’s crucial role in the ecosystem and the impending ecological catastrophe, if it disappears. Nevertheless, indiscriminate deforestation has deprived the tiger of its home. The latest census report which the Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has rightly called a “mixed bag” too points at the shrinking habitats which could decrease further and put more pressure on the wild animal.
There is little doubt that saving forests could translate into saving tigers. However, to counter the threat, which the endangered species is facing, both poachers and encroachers have to be dealt with severely. The skepticism of tiger experts over the new figures may be taken with a pinch of salt for the 2010 tiger census is more accurate than the ones in the past as it has used scientific methods like camera trapping and DNA tests. However, they are dead right in asserting that better ways to conserve tigers have to be found. If the Global Tiger Recovery Programme has to meet its target of doubling the tiger population by 2022, the efforts to protect the National Animal too have to be doubled. Challenges enroute tiger conservation are many and have to be tackled head-on.