Botched tiger death register rings alarm

TAGS: Tiger deaths | Tiger poaching | Tiger conservation | National animal | Rajesh Gopal | Wildlife activists | Ministry of Forest The nation's tigers could soon vanish from the jungles and remain only on the record books because of unprecedented bungling in the death register. A typical police phenomenon whereby crimes are often not reported or passed off as minor offences to keep the logbook clean, this trend has been noticed in tiger conservation and is leading to devastating consequences. The nation has 1,706 tigers according to the 2010 census. But the number could be different in the 40-odd forests reserved for the majestic national animal because 32 deaths have already been reported this year - 14 of them to poaching. To buck this trend, the National Tiger Conservation Authority has ruled that tiger deaths be treated as cases of poaching, unless proved otherwise. "To ensure due diligence and topmost priority, every case of tiger and leopard death would be henceforth treated as a case of poaching, unless proved otherwise beyond reasonable doubt. If a tiger death is classified as death because of natural causes, it should be substantiated by adequate supporting field evidence and factual details," the conservation authority said in its advisory issued last week. Officials said this would ensure that no incident of poaching was termed as natural death. Rajesh Gopal, secretary in the conservation authority, asked chief wildlife wardens of the states where tigers are found to follow a series of "adequate caution while classifying tiger deaths as death due to natural causes". Wildlife activists and tiger conservationists have welcomed the move. "It's a good because many poaching deaths have been covered up as natural deaths," conservationist Belinda Wright said. "If one was to look at statistics (of tiger mortalities) from 2008 onwards, the figure of natural deaths and deaths due to infighting has trebled. On the other hand, poaching deaths, evident from confiscation and recovery of tiger parts, have halved. This is not possible. There was something seriously wrong somewhere," she pointed out. "So now, every time there is a tiger death, the wildlife officials posted at the tiger reserves have been asked to check for equipment used in poaching like metal traps, snares, any evidence of unauthorised vehicular movement, any sign of use of firearms, poisoning near water bodies and even poisoning of livestock killed by tigers. These tell-tale signs will help investigators establish the cause of death," she added. The guidelines have been issued almost a month after the conservation authority pressed the panic button following credible inputs that several wandering gangs of poachers were seen near tiger reserves. Calling the situation serious, it asked forest guards to conduct combing operations. Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/botched-tiger-death-tiger-poaching-tiger-conservation/1/197874.html http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/botched-tiger-death-tiger-poaching-tiger-conservation/1/197874.html