1.
Presentation on
Presented by: Conservation:
NIDHI GOYAL

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. Tigers occupy the pinnacle of the food
chain and a healthy tiger population is
an indicator of the well being of the
whole forest.
. With the number of herbivores under
control, but not depleted, the forest
vegetation is likely to thrive provided
humans do not over exploit it.
. Species at the top of the food chain
are generally larger and require more
space than other animals, particularly if
they are territorial .
. Conserving such species in the wild
protects as well as safeguards the
essential ecological processes such as
water and nutrient cycling. Thus the
tiger as the guardian of many other
creatures.

3.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority was established in December 2005
following a recommendation of the Tiger Task Force constituted by the Prime Minister
of India for reorganized management of Project Tiger and the many Tiger Reserves in
India.
•Tiger conservation:
. In June 2007, a detailed survey by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), which used
accurate camera traps for counting tigers rather than the more traditional method of
counting footprints, reported that previous estimates of tiger numbers in India may be
hugely optimistic.
.The landmark report, Status of the Tigers, Co-predators, and Prey in India, published by
the National Tiger Conservation Authority, estimates only 1411 adult tigers in existence
in India (plus uncensused tigers in the Sundarbans).
. For example,
in the 16 reserves of Madhya Pradesh , Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh there
may be only 490 tigers – a 60% reduction from the 1,233 tigers previously estimated for
these areas in 2002. Indeed, the same 2002 survey had claimed that in total, India had
3,500 tigers, whilst the new survey claims that just 1,400 remain.

4.
• Although India does have good laws governing tiger conservation,
there is frustration amongst those working in tiger conservation that
these laws are not being adequately implemented. However, initiatives
such as Born Free’s community and education work in India are
getting good results.
• Translocating villagers out of tiger reserves can be effective too, if
sensitively done. The tigers prey flourishes in the absence of
disturbance, and poachers’ activities are harder to disguise.
• Nevertheless, farmers seem quite open about the fact that tigers are
killed so their body parts can be used for Traditional Medicine.
• The most recent audit of wild tigers by the Authority (in early 2008)
has estimated the number at 1411 wild tigers – 1165 - 1657 allowing
for statistical error - a drop of 60% in the past decade.

5.
Organization:
 The Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 was been
amended to provide for constituting of the
National Tiger Conservation Authority
responsible for implementation of the Project
Tiger plan to protect endangered tigers.
 The National Tiger Conservation Authority is
set up under the Chairmanship of
the Minister for Environment and Forests.
The Inspector General of Forests, in charge of
project Tiger, will be ex-officio Member
Secretary.
 The Authority, interalia, would lay down
normative standards, guidelines for tiger
conservation in the Tiger Reserves, apart
from National Parks and Sanctuaries.
 It would provide information on protection
measures including future conservation plan,
tiger estimation, disease surveillance,
mortality survey, patrolling, report on
untoward happenings and such other
management aspects as it may deem fit,
including future plan for conservation.

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 The Tiger Conservation Authority would be
required to prepare an Annual Report,
which would be laid in the Parliament along
with the Audit Report.
 A provision has been made for the State
Governments to prepare a Tiger
Conservation Plan, which would include
staff development, their deployment to
ensure protection of tiger reserves and its
development, while ensuring compatible
forestry operations in adjoining areas.
 Further, safeguards have been provided for
ensuring the agricultural, livelihood,
developmental and other interests of the
people living inside a forest or in and
around a tiger reserve. The core as well as
buffer areas have been explicitly explained
to avoid ambiguity.
 Provision will be made for the States to
establish a Tiger Conservation Foundation,
based on the good practices emanating
from some tiger reserves.
 The proposed Foundation is a Trust, which
would be constituted as per the appropriate
statutory provisions in vogue in the State.

7.
National tiger conservation authority for ban on tourism in core areas of tiger
reserve:
BHOPAL: The national tiger conservation authority (NTCA) has recommended to ban
tourism activities from the core areas of tiger reserves of the country and to limit them to
buffer areas for the benefit of the local communities.
The authority has filed its recommendation in the Supreme Court. The recommendations
were submitted after the apex court's orders while hearing a petition filed by a Bhopal-
based activist to ban tourism activities in the core areas of the parks.
The petition pleaded the apex court to direct the governments to notify the buffer zones.
In its recommendations, the NTCA has used the word "eco-tourism"- Guidelines for eco-
tourism in and around protected areas".
"There is a need to adhere with the amended provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act in
terms of the core/critical tiger habitat or critical wildlife habitat that have defined the
need to provide inviolate core and buffer areas (designed for co-existence) in tiger
reserves", the recommendations stated.

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Habitat and prey loss:
• Large-scale habitat destruction and decimation of prey populations are the major long-term
threats to the existence of the dwindling tiger population in the country.
Less than a hundred years ago, tigers prowled all across India and the sub-continent.
• But growing human populations, particularly since the 1940s, have contracted and
fragmented the tiger's former range. Although extensive habitat is available in some
landscapes, agriculture, clearing of forests for development - especially road networks,
hydel projects are forcing tigers into small and scattered islands of remaining habitat.
• Tigers need large territories. And along with habitat, tigers have also suffered a severe loss
of natural prey populations – in particular ungulates such as deer and antelopes.
Hunting, poaching and illegal trade:
• For over thousand years, tigers have been hunted as status symbol, decorative item such as
wall and floor covering, as souvenirs and curios, and for use in traditional Asian medicines.
• Hunting for sport probably caused the greatest decline in tiger populations until the 1930s.
• In the early 1990s, trade in tiger bone for traditional Chinese medicines threatened to drive
tigers to extinction in the wild. Poaching is the largest immediate threat to the remaining
tiger population.
Conflict with humans
• As tigers continue to lose their habitat and prey species, they are increasingly coming into
conflict with humans as they attack domestic animals – and sometimes people. In
retaliation, tigers are often killed by angry villagers.

9.
• There are very few people who understand the true importance of protecting
the tiger. Most people feel it is only a matter of saving an animal that makes
a beautiful sight to see.
• This reason only makes up a fraction of why we need to save this incredible
animal. The tiger is at the top of the food chain in the jungles that it roams.
The following is a very basic description of the chaos that would ensue if the
tiger became extinct. If this was to happen, the populations of prey species
like Spotted deer and Sambhar would burst at the seams. This excessive
population would then totally ravage it's food source - vegetation. If the
vegetation in the jungles was devastated, where and how would the insects
survive. They may even shift to the crops in farmlands. If the plants in the
jungles would be finished, what would refurbish the soil. If the soil was no
longer fertile, new plants would not sprout. Over the years, this would
probably mean the end of the jungles.
• The end of jungles also means the end of the biggest suppliers of the oxygen
filled air, which we take so much for granted.

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 This is a very simple layman description of what the result of tiger extinction could mean to our
own survival. The truly scientific description is even more alarming and drastic.
 It isn't necessary for every one of us to take world-awakening steps. All we have to really do is
influence those that are a part of our own lives. Obviously, anyone wanting to do more than that
is another breath of fresh air for a dying tiger.
 There are many NGOs and other organisations that are totally dedicated to protecting the tiger. It
is important to realise at the outset, if we are intending to help in this line, that protecting the
tiger does not necessarily mean working in operations dealing directly with the tiger.
 It could easily mean working on assignments dealing completely with villages in Park buffer
zones, other animal species, welfare of staff working in reserves, villagers, issues dealing with
cattle grazing, etc.
 The one thing that is common with all these assignments is that they are all directly or indirectly
aimed at protecting the jungle and it's inhabitants, which obviously includes the tiger.
The main thing that requires a mention here is that if you care for the tiger and want to do
something about it - the time is NOW. Act - before it's too late.