News Highlights
International Tiger Day is also celebrated as Awareness Day to prevent the destruction caused due to poaching.
It is due to poaching and destruction of forests that the number of tigers has dropped significantly in various countries.
Tiger
- The tiger (Panthera tigris) is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus Panthera.
- Existing Subspecies of Tiger
- The existing subspecies of tiger and their IUCN Red List
- Indian or Bengal: Endangered
- Indochinese: Endangered
- Amur or Siberian: Endangered
- Malayan: “Critically Endangered.”
- Sumatran: “Critically Endangered.”
- South China: Critically Endangered
- The existing subspecies of tiger and their IUCN Red List
- Protection Status
- International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List: Endangered (Globally).
- Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES): Appendix I.
- Distribution
- Historically, tigers once ranged widely across Asia, but in recent decades, populations have been restricted to 13 countries, namely,
- Distribution in India
Threats faced by Tiger
- Poaching and the Illegal Trade
- Demand for tiger skin, bone and other body parts, fuels and finances organised poaching and trafficking, which has had a rapid effect on tiger sub-populations and resulted in localised extinctions.
- Habitat loss and fragmentation
- An increase in human populations throughout tiger range countries has reduced tiger habitats.
- Human-tiger conflict
- People compete with the tiger for space and food.
- Such encounters result in the death of livestock or, in rare but extreme cases, humans.
- Both lead to the removal of the tiger.
- Declining prey base
- The three main prey species are wild pigs, barking deer and sambar deer, also highly sought after by hunters
Why does Tiger Conservation matter?
- Balanced Ecosystem
- As top predators, tigers keep populations of prey species in check, which, in turn, maintains the balance between herbivores and the vegetation upon which they feed.
- These balanced ecosystems are not only crucial for wildlife but for people, too.
- Healthy Forests and Watersheds
- Every time we protect a tiger, we protect an estimated 25,000 acres of forest.
- People rely on forests directly for their livelihoods or indirectly for food and products.
- Tigers also live in significant watersheds. Protecting those areas can help secure the freshwater that more than 800 million people rely on in large parts of Asia.
- Mitigates Climate change
- As climate change becomes more severe, natural forests grow increasingly essential to counter the effects;
- As compared to any other forest in any region, Tiger landscapes are known for storing more Carbon.
- A healthy tiger population resides in extensive forests – nothing but the standard sinks of Carbon.
- Helping Local Communities
- Tigers can directly help some of the world’s poorest communities through revenue and employment opportunities generated by tourism.
- Tiger conservation projects can also help provide alternative livelihoods for rural communities that are not only more sustainable but can also raise income levels.
Tiger Conservation Initiatives
- Project Tiger
- The Government of India launched ‘Project Tiger’ to promote the conservation and protect tigers in India.
- National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA):
- It is a statutory body under the MoEFCC and was established in 2005 following the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force.
- Project TX2
- 13 tiger range governments came together for the first time at the St Petersburg Summit, where they committed to double the number of wild tigers by 2022.
- Conservation Assured |Tiger Standards
- CA|TS or Conservation Assured |Tiger Standards is a globally accepted conservation tool that sets best practices and standards to manage tigers and encourages assessments to benchmark progress.
- In July 2021, India’s 14 Tiger Reserves received the CA|TS accreditation.
- Budgetary Allocation
- Budgetary allocation for tiger conservation increased from Rs 185 crore in 2014 to Rs 300 crore in 2022.
Conservation Status of India
- India currently accounts for 70 percent of the total tiger population in the world.
- The last tiger census of 2018 showed a rise in the tiger population. According to the Census, India has around 2,967 tigers
- According to World Wildlife Fund, tiger populations are currently stable or increasing in India.
- The population growth rate of Tiger is six per cent per annum.
- India achieved Project TX2 doubling of tiger population in 2018, 4 years ahead of the targeted year 2022.
- Currently, there are 52 Tiger Reserves in the country.
- Ramgarh Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan is the name of India’s 52th & newest tiger reserve.
- Four tiger reserves of Assam, namely Manas, Nameri, Kaziranga, and Orang tiger reserve, have received accreditation of Conservation Assured Tiger Standards (CATS).
Content Source: The Hindu
Pic Courtesy: Freepik