Chronicle of a death foretold

The latest census and an investigative documentary proves that Indian tigers are fast disappearing due to mega projects, ecological destruction and organised poaching

Akash Bisht Delhi

What are the chances of the tiger surviving for much longer in whatever little remains of the fast shrinking Indian forests? The stark reality is sending shockwaves down the spines of conservationists and wildlife lovers.

Almost two years after the Sariska shock, when the entire tiger population disappeared from this wildlife sanctuary, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and National Tiger Conservation Authority have revealed in their preliminary census that there has been a 60 per cent fall in the tiger population in central India since 2002. A two-year research study in 16 tiger reserves of Madhya Pradesh, Mahar-ashtra, Rajasthan and Jharkhand has shown a steep fall in the number of tigers. In 2002-03, these states accounted for more than 1,000 tigers. Now, these numbers have come down to a dismal 417.

Madhya Pradesh, also known as the tiger state of India, has registered a decline of 61 per cent, while populations in Maharashtra and Rajasthan came down by 57 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. The complete report is due  out later this year. The uncanny question is : Why has the central government's Ministry of Environment and Forests chosen to bring out this half-hearted report even when it is so obviously incomplete?

While presenting these figures before tiger conservationists and journalists in Delhi recently, Qamar Qureshi, one of the two scientists with the WII that have conducted the survey in four Indian provinces, said, “There is definitely a downward trend because of increasing anthropogenic activities, rampant poaching and habitat encroachment.”  All the facts emerging from this grim scenario suggest a sharp and depressing drop in the tiger population in India.

Under Project Tiger, the government in 1973 conducted the first survey on tiger populations and concluded that there were 1,827 tigers in the country that year. Till 2002, the tiger population was on the rise and reached 3,700. However, most conservationists felt that the numbers were far too optimistic and inflated. This report did not go well with those who opined that the animal is under severe threat and faces extinction. “These results are depressing. Instead of playing the blame game the government should focus on conservation in a right manner,” confirmed Belinda Wright, director, Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), and a relentless crusader to save the tiger.

“Earlier, pugmarks were used to determine tiger populations but many considered this inaccurate. The method adopted in this survey is scientifically more accurate and robust. We used camera traps, pugmarks and dung to determine the population in these reserves,” explained YV Jhala, Scientist, WII. But the nagging fears and doubts remained.

Indeed, a recently released hard-hitting documentary film, Tiger: The death chronicles, by Krishnendu Bose exposed how pugmarks can be fudged even while the tigers disappear, poached and killed by an organised mafia. According to Bose, “Pugmarks can easily be fudged and this is one of the most outdated ways of determining the tiger population. Counting pugmarks doesn't have scientific rigour and neutrality and, therefore, has always been surrounded by controversies and confusion.”