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Friday, August 21, 2009
India loosing Tigers at alarming rate as another found dead in Bandavgarh
Even India's showpiece tiger reserve known for the maximum density of big cats cant prevent the killings. A tigress was found dead in Bandhavgarh National Park in MP apparently poisoned though post mortem reports are still awaited. The tigersse's death means survival of its 3 cubs in the wild is also under cloud so in a sense this one death will mean a loss of 4 tigers. This incident comes a few months after anothe tiger cub was killed in the park when the driver of a tourist vehicle ran it over apparently trying to get this clients a better view of the feline hinding under the car. Another alarming report by a prominent NGO based on statistics collected from various parts of country, counts 66 tigers dead in 2009. The TOI story also cites the report attributing 23 of these deaths to poaching. Going by the normal underreporting of such incidents in our country it would be safe to assume that the real figure of tigers lost would be closer to twice the figure which means more than 125 cats lost in just 7 months. For a full year this will translate to almost 200 deaths. With new tiger births showing little signs of increase, the rate of deaths will soon take the population to a tipping point when any conservation effort will stop making a difference. So if there is atime to save the tigers it is now.
MP forest officers transferred enmasse
Temptations of the political class to shunt around bureaucracy at its whims and fancy is taking heavy toll on country;s wildlife and forests. In another incident smacking of high handedness as per a report in Central Chronicle MP govt today transferred 27 IFS officers at one stroke. This comes on the heels of Maharashtra Forest minister last month shunting a whopping 350 forest officers at one go including some posted in sensitive wildlife regions wihout providing for suitable replacements. Read our earlier post on this (http://planettiger.blogspot.com/2009/07/another-minister-with-blinkers-on.html)
Given the lack of sensitivity being shown by state wildlife officials and minsters across the board it seems the centre will have to play a larger part in protection of not just wild life but also protecting the bureaucracy from political interference. It isnt surprising that some state forest officials are resisting signing a tripartite agreement with teh centre. Till such time they are not shielded from political interference, expecting them to be fully accountable for protection of reserves will be a non starter.
27 IFS officers transferred
Assam signs Tripartite act for tiger conservation with Centre as MP drags its feet
On a day of mixed developments Assam became the 3rd state after Rajasthan and Kerala to ink the recently formulated tripartite agreement between Centre, State govt and Forest reserve. The agreement makes field director of tiger reserves more accountable and makes release of funds contigent to the efforts being put in by the local official and state govt. Read our earlier post on the topic ( http://planettiger.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-ntca-guidelines-to-hold-field.html)
Apart from signing of the agreement Assam forest minister also announced setting up of a second battalion of force to protect forests and wildlife.
On the other hand, a state which should be at the forefront of tiger protection and take the lead in setting precedents for others to follow is dragging its feet in helping the centre make tiger conservation efforts more meaningful. A report by Zee News says MP govt officials yesterday raised objections to signing the tripartite act wary of the responsibility it affixes on field directors of reseves. This coming from a state which has witnessed the shameful loss of all tigers in Panna and almost all in Sanjay National park. Appartently field directors are concerned that once the agreement is signed they will be accountable for their actions. The Minister MOEF Jairam Ramesh being a determined man has asked for NTCA to meet with the field directors to remove their apprehensions and get the agreement signed at the earliest. If there is a chance for the MP govt to bury the past and ensure protection of its tigers for future generations this can be teh first real meaninful step they can take.
Tripartite pact on Project Tiger
Big cats find healthy habitat at Kaziranga
MP not keen to sign pact for tiger conservation
Railways insensitivity killing wildlife
In another incident of its kind a deer was run over by a train in the Dushwa national park region in UP as per a report by PTI. The report also cites another such case of a tiger being killed by a speeding train last year in teh same region. Despite detailed guidlines reg speed of trains in various sections, teh railways has summarily failed to implement steps to be taken to prevent loss of wildlife
Deer overrun by speeding train
NTCA teams to visit Tiger parks on verge of loosing their jewels
As per a TOI report today, NTCA has constituted various teams drawn from wildlife NGOs to visit tiger reserves showing signs of rapid decline. First reserve to get a visit will be Valmiki Reserve in Bihar which as per the report has lost more than 60% of big cats in the last couple of years. A recent post on this blog (http://planettiger.blogspot.com/2009/08/tiger-cubs-sighted-in-valimiki-tiger.html) had noted slopiness of state officials in ignoring to adhere to basic guidlines related to demarcation of core and buffer areas of the park. Given the poor track record of state govts in acting to save protected areas time is runing out before the park becomes another Siriska. Apart from Valimiki Palamu in Jharkhand, Manas in Assam and Indravati in Chhattisgarh, Dampa Tiger Reserve in Mizoram, Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal, Namdapha Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve in Andhra Pradesh are the other reserves the teams are likely to visit. It may be noted that all these reserves have been on the NTCA radar for a while due to a whole host of problems ranging from naxalism to poor ground level protection. One hopes the NTCA visits will initiate a series of workable steps to stem the rapid decline of these forest areas.
NTCA team to inspect Valmiki Tiger Reserve
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