(ARTICLE) Panna Tigers in Trouble : Sanctuary Magazine
(ARTICLE) Panna Tigers in Trouble : Sanctuary Magazine
tigers in trouble
They need us
now
Project Tiger, which was once led by brave and capable people such as Kailash
Sankhala, now suffers from a leadership crisis. The latest news is that we have
fewer wild tigers alive today than on the day Project Tiger was started in 1973.
This is a matter of great shame for all those whose responsibility it was to
save the cat, including our Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers of states in
which tigers are found. The many conservationists and large NGOs will also be
blamed by the future generation for failing the tiger. In truth, all of India
itself has failed the tiger.
Why are things suddenly so bad for the tiger? It has not been sudden. Tiger
numbers have fallen gradually each year since 1990. India now has less than
1,500 tigers left alive. This means we have lost over 2,300 tigers in the last
five years. And even if the number of tigers was less than 3,500 around the year
2000 because forest officers had distorted census figures, the fact is today’s
numbers are horribly low.
Who is killing our tigers?
Poachers of course are to blame first. But large companies that mine or dam
forests in which tigers live and who profit from the sale of trees are equally
guilty. In fact, destroying the forest is the surest way to wipe out tigers
forever.
Who is financing the poachers?
International crime syndicates and gangs are financing people to kill tigers,
elephants, rhinos and almost any other species that can be sold for cash. Even
the famous Kaziranga National Park has not been spared. Here, we have lost over
20 rhinos in 2007.
What does the latest report by the National Tiger Conservation Authority say?
In 1973, when the number of tigers in India was estimated to be just over
1,700, the whole world said that tigers were in grave danger and Project Tiger
was launched. The new report from the National Tiger Conservation Authority
suggests that in some tiger reserves such as Corbett, Kaziranga, Nagarahole,
Kanha and Tadoba, the tiger is safe, but outside such protected forests and in
forests where human beings still live, tigers have almost vanished, or are
likely to vanish in a very short while. The report says that today we may have
less than 1,500 tigers left alive. The fact is that tigers are relatively safe
in those reserves where there are no humans or very few humans. In others, such
as Palamau and Namdapha, they have virtually been wiped out. In 2004, Sariska
lost all its tigers. In Panna, not
a single tiger cub has been born seen since 2002 and over 50 per cent of the
park seems to have no tigers at all. There was one breeding
tigress in there, but even she has been missing since the middle of 2007. Late
last year, traps and snares were discovered in the core area of the Kanha Tiger
Reserve in Madhya Pradesh where everyone thought the cats were totally safe.
Tiger skins regularly end up in shipments of wildlife contraband bound for
far-eastern countries, including China, Japan and Hong Kong.
What are the other threats to the tiger?
Almost every forest in India is under attack from agriculture, cattle
grazing and commercial projects including dams, coal mines, four-lane highways,
thermal plants, cement factories, steel plants, ports and even nuclear reactors.
Those who truly love wildlife are not empowered to save the tiger and those in
whose hands we have left the tiger seem not to care about the cat.
What is wrong with the Forest Rights Act?
With this dangerous new law in place, people have already started moving
into wildlife areas to cut down trees and claim land. This will not only result
in the death of tigers and other wildlife, but will make our existing climate
change problem even worse. Over 25 per cent of all greenhouse gasses released by
India are a result of deforestation. This situation will worsen and,
potentially, 7.5 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide could be spewed into the air. This
will also affect our lakes and rivers and, therefore, our agriculture. Sadly,
when land is given to local communities, it will quickly be sold, or snatched
away, leaving them as poor as they were before. So the Forest Rights Act will
end up helping neither forest dwellers, nor wildlife.
Can’t the MoEF do anything?
That is what they were set up to do, but instead of protecting forests, the
ministry has become a tool in the hands of politicians who ‘somehow’ manage
to convince the ministry to approve very destructive industrial projects. Over
15,000 hectares of forestland was destroyed with the permission of the MoEF for
49 industrial projects, including mining, irrigation and windmills. This could
mean cutting down around three million trees. Additionally, lakhs of trees are
being cut for state and central government projects that need 40 hectares of
land or less.
What can an individual do?
To start with, write a letter to the Prime Minister. Also write to
newspapers, Chief Ministers, Forest Ministers and government officials and speak
to friends and teachers. Photocopy these pages and ask your principal to
highlight the issue during your school assembly. Ask them to write to Bittu
Sahgal, Editor, Sanctuary Magazine, if they need any clarification, or if they
need help to run their campaigns locally.
How can you help right now?
You can be a part of a save the tiger campaign being run on NDTV that
is supported by Sanctuary and Kids for Tigers. We want to collect one million
signatures to save the tiger, so we can convince our Prime Minister to act
before it is too late. We want the Prime Minister to hold an emergency meeting
of the National Board for Wildlife to consider the latest threat to the tiger.
We do not want any more promises from the Prime Minister.
We want action and we want it now.
Bittu Sahgal,
Editor, Sanctuary Magazine,
146, Pragati Industrial Estate,
N.M. Joshi Marg,
Lower Parel,
Mumbai 400 011
Email: bittu<at>sanctuaryasia.com
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