More tigers but India still wary
Source: Agencies |
March 29, 2011, Tuesday
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INDIA'S latest tiger census shows an increase in the numbers of the endangered big cat, but threats to their roaming territory could reverse those gains, officials said yesterday.
The census counted at least 1,706 tigers in forests across the country, about 300 more than four years ago, a government official said yesterday.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh called the increase good news but cautioned against any complacency in efforts to save the iconic animal from extinction.
"The rise in numbers is the result of sustained efforts, but the shrinking of tiger corridors is alarming," Ramesh said. Wildlife experts who conducted the census said tiger corridors, which are the routes frequently used by the big cats to move from one reserve to another, had declined sharply as huge power projects, mining and roads cut into their habitats.
"Securing these corridors should be taken up as a priority," said Rajesh Gopal, director, National Tiger Conservation Authority.
But with India pushing ahead with its economic agenda, the threat to the tiger rises as the government tries to juggle the competing claims of development and wildlife conservation, Ramesh said.
Unlike earlier estimates, when pugmarks of individual cats were counted, this time round conservationists used hidden cameras and DNA tests to count them in 17 states where tigers live in the wild. The census included 70 tigers in the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve, which had not been counted in the last census in 2007.
The 2007 census had shown 1,411 tigers, a dramatic drop from about 3,600 five years earlier. A century ago, about 100,000 tigers roamed India's forests.
The census counted at least 1,706 tigers in forests across the country, about 300 more than four years ago, a government official said yesterday.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh called the increase good news but cautioned against any complacency in efforts to save the iconic animal from extinction.
"The rise in numbers is the result of sustained efforts, but the shrinking of tiger corridors is alarming," Ramesh said. Wildlife experts who conducted the census said tiger corridors, which are the routes frequently used by the big cats to move from one reserve to another, had declined sharply as huge power projects, mining and roads cut into their habitats.
"Securing these corridors should be taken up as a priority," said Rajesh Gopal, director, National Tiger Conservation Authority.
But with India pushing ahead with its economic agenda, the threat to the tiger rises as the government tries to juggle the competing claims of development and wildlife conservation, Ramesh said.
Unlike earlier estimates, when pugmarks of individual cats were counted, this time round conservationists used hidden cameras and DNA tests to count them in 17 states where tigers live in the wild. The census included 70 tigers in the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve, which had not been counted in the last census in 2007.
The 2007 census had shown 1,411 tigers, a dramatic drop from about 3,600 five years earlier. A century ago, about 100,000 tigers roamed India's forests.
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