Tiger - India’s valuable asset on the verge of extinction

Government of India taking serious initiatives to facilitate the smash-up

Tiger, the largest Asian animal of cat family with brown eyes and dark-striped coat is the National animal of India which signifies the wealth of our country’s wildlife is at the verge of extinction. Is that conserved with utmost care? Is that been treated as the national animal? We can come to a conclusion during the process of understanding the conservation measures implemented and the population declination of faunal web which is our pride symbol.

The latest tiger census estimates its population stand as 1,411. The Indian Ministry under the Wildlife Division carries out the wildlife conservation activities along with involvement of the State government. They primarily focus on the tiger conservation since they face numerous threats from poachers and illegal trading.

The governments as well as the non-governmental agencies have been taking various steps to conserve the wildlife of the nation. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), which forms an international agreement between governments to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

Similarly, the world’s tiger population has reduced drastically over a century. Habitat and prey are critical to the long-term survival of tigers, but the illegal trade of tiger’s parts is the foundation of the immediate threat to the tiger population.

The Government has also launched project tiger scheme since 1973 and their main objective is to ensure a viable population of tiger in India for scientific, economic, aesthetic, cultural and ecological values and to preserve them. Initially, they started the project in nine tiger reserves and now the number got increased as they are doing in 27 tiger reserves. This project has put the tiger on a course of recovery from the list of endangered species. They adopted different strategies such as elimination of all forms of human exploitation, limitation of habitat management to reduce the damage made by human and they also started researching about the wild animals and monitored the changes in floral and faunal life.

Indian Board for Wildlife (IBWL) has been in the field of wildlife conservation and has raised national level funds. Similarly, the law enforcement agencies should take initiative to ensure that those involved in poaching and illegal activities are been punished immediately. They have also taken measures to reduce the adverse impact of tourism in wildlife areas. The onus is with mainstream media who can highlight the governmental initiatives in an effective mode.

Innovatively produced Television commercials on tiger conservation are widely appreciated from the wide range of mass who watches television channels like Discovery, National Geographic and Animal Planet. Prasar Bharati and our private channels along with organizations like World Wildlife Fund for nature, The Wildlife Conservation Society, Wildlife Protection Society of India, etc should collaborate and increase original Indian content in different languages on our television.

Ministry of Environment and forest implemented few stringent regulations based on the conservation of wildlife, Lands falling within 10 km of the boundaries of National Parks and Sanctuaries should be notified as eco-fragile zones under section 3(v) of the Environment (Protection) Act and Rule 5 Sub-rule 5(viii) & (x) of the Environment (Protection) Rules. They have also removed encroachments and punished those involved in illegal activities from or within the forest lands and protected areas.

Wildlife conservation is an important task which cannot be treated lightly or ritualistically, Forest Commission should set up to look into restructuring, reform and strengthening the entire forest set up and affiliated institutions in the country. A working group shall be constituted to monitor implementation of Wildlife Action Plan.

Most importantly let us resolve this vital issue joining our hands to mount up the most precious wealth of our country and we should end the relative neglect of wildlife conservation in coming years.