Space for the Wild Cat

With the home to the highest tiger population in the world, I think this is India's proudest possession in the field of wildlife. At a time when the population of this elegant animal was reduced just to 1411 giving a jolt to the sleeping authorities we have come a long way with the current population being around 1750 tigers with more being added each year.

An elaborate network of tiger reserves numbering 46 as of today and tight measures to prevent poaching of the tiger has bore fruits. The prevention and preservation efforts have earned the Indian wildlife authorities and the Project Tiger worldwide acclaim and these now actively helping countries like Nepal to conserve their tiger populations.

A Royal Bengal Tiger
However, in all this a problem is raising its head with each passing day and that is the space constraint that these wild cats are experiencing in their designated reserves. The direct fallout of lack of availability of space is increase in human tiger conflict which is dangerous for both the human and the tiger. Since tigers don't know about their boundaries so when the area becomes over crowded they either shift to other less populated reserves if a dedicated corridor exists or are forced to meander out in the open coming in direct contact with the humans. On an average 85 deaths are reported in a year due to human tiger conflict, a number that is bound to rise due to space constraint that the cat is facing presently.

The major area of reform in this regard can be brought about by some intelligent planning. Here, dedicated corridors providing linkages between different reserves would offload half the burden since tigers from overcrowded reserves can migrate to the other ones through these corridors. Usually, the female tiger is the one who has to migrate due to tendency of the male tiger to kill the cubs. But development activities like roads, rail, human settlement act as a barrier in forming a net of interconnected tiger reserves.



More tiger reserves should come up on priority basis. The government is planning to set up five more reserves. Plans to connect these to the existing ones should be laid down at this stage itself so that tiger migration is facilitated.

Another measure that can be taken by the government is by starting something as Tiger Diplomacy as was done by China in the case of Giant Pandas by gifting the Pandas to various nations. Though different species of tigers are found in over 15 countries of the world but a humble starting of the programme can bring more focus on the issue of conservation of our national animal.

One thing should be clear that at the present numbers the tiger is nowhere near safety from extinction and crucial conservation efforts are needed to help these cats breed and grow in number. The new government has a lot to do on this front and one hopes that the big cat won't be left out in the development debate.

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