Scraps Stuffs - Random musings from apun ka desh

There has been a lot of press recently both in the print and electronic media and in specialized electronic mailing lists like nathistory-india (Natural History of South Asia) about the tiger crisis India is facing.

Tigers have disappeared in Sariska, or more correctly, no trace of tigers have been found recently in Sariska. This means no pug-marks, no scats, no scratch marks, etc. For all practical purposes they have disappeared from Sariska, almost certainly poached to local extinction.

Tiger sightings have also reduced in number in nearby Ranthambhor. Again, almost certainly due to poaching. The state of tiger populations in Panna and Bandhavgarh are also said to be causing concern.

While Project Tiger initiated in 1973 almost certainly provided better protection to Tigers and the forests they lived in, complacency seems to have set in during the last decade or so. There are regular reports of large number of tiger and leopard skins, claws and bones being seized from poachers and petty illegal wildlife traders. Going by the assumption that the numbers being seized are a fraction of what escapes detection, things are pretty bleak.

I have never believed any census figures put out by wildlife authorities for predators like the tiger, leopard and wild dog. Prey numbers may be right. I routinely divide by three, the number of tigers that are alleged to be living in any protected area. Since its impossible to physically count the actual number of tigers, some extrapolation from collected data is expected. But inflated figures are not expected, although regularly reported.

If action is not taken fast, this spells the doom for India's wildlife. If the tiger and leopard are in such dire straits, I don't doubt that the fate of other lesser creatures, that are not reported, is any better.

What gets my goat is the Central government reaction. More committees are being formed to "look into the matter". CBI "probes" are ordered. What's needed is action.

1. Increase the budget for the forest departments, fund the states to enable them to do so.
2. Fill up all posts in the state forest departments that are lying empty.
3. Procecute to the full extent of the law, anybody caught indulging in wildlife offences. The notorious poacher Sansar Chand is absconding, how the hell was he granted bail after so many repeated offences!
4. Disallow polluting industries to come up in areas within or close to protected areas. Order a close down of all existing polluting industries. Biodiversity is going to be increasingly important to our country in the future and any action detrimental to it should not be allowed.