Maintaining viable tiger population, balancing development India's goal for next 50 years

New Delhi: India aims to sustain a viable tiger population based on a scientifically calculated carrying capacity of habitats while maintaining a balance between development and wildlife conservation, the head of Project Tiger, which completed 50 years on April 1, said on Wednesday.

Additional Director General of Forests S P Yadav also said that though tiger poaching has substantially reduced due to better technology and protection mechanisms, it is still the biggest threat to the big cats besides habitat fragmentation and degradation.

India launched Project Tiger on April 1, 1973 to promote tiger conservation. Initially, it covered nine tiger reserves spread over 18,278 sq km. At present, there are 53 tiger reserves spanning more than 75,000 sq km (approximately 2.4 per cent of the country's geographical area).

India has around 3,000 tigers, more than 70 per cent of the global wild tiger population, and the number is increasing at a rate of 6 per cent per year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release the latest tiger census data at a mega event to mark the completion of 50 years of Project Tiger in Karnataka's Mysuru on April 9.

He will also release the government's vision for tiger conservation during 'Amrit Kaal'.

"There has been very significant progress... There is hardly any parallel in the world of a scheme of this scale and magnitude that has been so successful," Yadav said in an interview with PTI.

"The goal would be to have a viable and sustainable tiger population in tiger habitats based on a scientifically calculated carrying capacity. I'm not putting a number (to it) as we cannot increase the tiger population of the country at the same pace because that will result in an increase in conflict with human beings," he said when asked about Project Tiger's objective for the next 50 years.

Yadav said the government is focusing on bringing potential tiger habitats under the conservation programme and actively managing tiger reserves based on their carrying capacity.

"Tiger numbers of many reserves are very low. These include Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal, Satkosia and Similipal in Odisha, and Satpura in Madhya Pradesh. We need active management where tiger numbers are below or above the carrying capacity.

"We need to translocate these tigers to areas that have a good prey base and better chances of survival. So, that will be the future strategy for tiger conservation in our country," he said.

Yadav, who is also the member secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a statutory body tasked with managing tiger habitats in India, stressed the need to strike a balance between development and conservation activities.

"We are a developing country; we cannot rule out development, we need employment. At the same time, we also need to conserve our tigers and other wildlife. This is where we have to strike a balance.

"The government, with the help of the Wildlife Institute of India, has come up with guidelines for linear infrastructure and mitigation measures. So, all proposals of projects in tiger corridors or tiger habitats, or buffer areas are put up before the standing committee of the NBWL (National Board for Wildlife) and implemented only after the recommendation of the panel which looks into all factors, including appropriate mitigation measures," he said.

NTCA data shows that India lost 857 tigers between 2012 and 2020, while 193 of them died due to poaching. Such incidents came down substantially from 34 in 2018 to just seven in 2020.

Yadav said poaching is still the number one threat to tigers besides habitat fragmentation and degradation.

"Poaching takes place in India not because there is a demand in our country, it is driven by the demand in consumer countries. Thanks to technology, better surveillance, patrolling and protection mechanisms, poaching has substantially reduced in India. But it still is the number one threat.

"We can always try (aim) for a zero-poaching situation but it's very difficult. We are the largest tiger range country in the world. We have more than 70 per cent of the global tiger population. With so many tigers, it's difficult to say that all our areas are 100 per cent protected. So, it cannot be ruled out," he said.

Asked if India's wildlife conservation efforts have done justice to people dependent on forests, the Project Tiger chief said the successful conservation of tigers, Asiatic elephants, single-horned rhinos and Asiatic lions became possible because of the cooperation and tolerance of the people.

"Now the time has come that we have an aggressive people's agenda, which means the direct and substantial benefit of conservation should go to the people," he said.

The senior forest official added that Project Tiger generates more than 45 lakh man-days of employment for local people annually. Besides, the government is supporting eco-development committees and self-help groups.

He emphasised that better monitoring and early warning systems for dispersing tigers are required to minimise tiger-human conflict.

Tigers are required to establish their own territory once they assume maturity. In search of territory, they fight with the existing tigers. They move out if they lose. It is called dispersal.

"And while dispersing, they pass through tiger corridors. If there is some disturbance or there is some diversion due to roads or canals or any linear infrastructure, they move into the (human) habitat but it's not their nature. Tigers do not identify human beings as their prey.

"The NTCA has issued a standard operating procedure on what could be done in such a situation but we need better monitoring and a better early warning system, especially on the dispersing tigers to make people aware of the tiger movement in the region to prevent any loss," Yadav said.