Around 70 per cent of the World’s Tiger population is in India. Other countries with a large population of tigers are Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Nepal. However, their numbers are dwindling each passing day. So I would like to recreate about the awareness of Tiger population in India. It is indeed a sorry state of affairs that the number of tigers dying every year is increasing, thus reducing the Tiger’s population considerably. It was revealed in a recent study that nearly 93 tigers have died in Gujarat in the last three years, accounting for approximately 31 tigers in a year. The tiger population had depleted to 1411 in 2007. It increased to 1706 by 2011. And it rose to 2226 according to the last national tiger census in 2014. The death rate is very high, and at this rate, the tiger population will go down.
To check poaching, the Gujarat Government has decided to keep a check on vehicles entering the Gir Reserve. They are also monitoring activities laborers entering from other states. Some of the tigers fell in open wells and arrangements is made to cover 9000 odd wells. Forest patrolling has been intensified to curtail poaching. Save Tiger campaign should start in full earnest or else we can see extinction tigers totally during the next century. Constant GPS monitoring of the tiger cubs till they become adults will also ensure they survive long. Also if the Save Tiger campaign works in full earnest, then extinction rate of tigers would reduce.
We have Kanha National Park which instills nostalgia because the landscape here is straight out of Rudyard Kipling`s Jungle Book. The most famous one is the Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand which provides key differentiators would be the knowledgeable guide who would lead the tiger spotting expedition. Pench in Maharashtra- MP border is a home to the supermom tigress. Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan, we can stay on an organic farm stay near Ranthambore and go tiger sighting. As close to nature as it gets. Best of the best is the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka where you can stay in a jungle lodge here and go on a jeep safari. Keep that camera handy for a quick snap of the big cat in the wilderness. Notable among other reserve is Nagarhole Tiger Reserve in Karnataka and be part of tiger population and stay in the jungle and hear the growls and prowls of the wild as you sleep. To add to the tiger population, we have Kaziranga Tiger Reserve in Assam. Turning to wild life sanctuary Tholpetty Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala’s Wayanad with natural beauty in God’s own country.
Karnataka leads the list with 289 Tigers followed by Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve with 215 in their ranks to boost our tiger population. Realizing the decreasing number of tigers in the country, Project Tiger is an Indian Government initiative launched in 1983 by the Government of India during Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s tenure limit issues that lead to the reduction of tiger habitats. The project aims at maintaining the population of Tigers. Some of the main habitats of India that fall under Project Tiger are the North East conservation unit, Sunderbans conservation unit, Sariska conservation unit and the Western Ghats conservation unit among various others. Let’s unite in our efforts to save the royal species for future by protecting their habitats and curbing illegal trade.
Nickhil Mani
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
