Tiger Population‏

14-Feb-2008

Dear Prime Minister,

 

Two years back you promised nation to look into the problem of tiger poaching. Nothing has happened since then. Tiger population is declining sharply.

 

I was looking into Project Tiger site. Between 1972 and 1984, tiger population more than doubled. However tiger population declined steadily since 1989 till 2002. 700 tigers died during this period. And now we got the shocking statistics of only 1411 tigers are remaining mostly in tiger reserve areas.

 

I think tigers are no longer safe in Jungle. Tiger body parts are in high demand throughout the world. No amount of protection can save them from bullets of poachers. I have two proposals to save tigers from being extinct.

 

1. Bring tigers and tigresses in an open zoo like Banarghata in Bangalore. Breed tiger in high volume. With proper care a tigress can breed 2-3 times a year. Each time she can give birth to 2-3 cubs. So with 200 tigresses, population may shoot up between 800 to 1800 a year. We also have to take proper care of the cubs so that they retain their hunting skills. Cubs will eventually be released to forest when they will be 2 years old. Unfortunately zoos in India are constantly told by the Central Zoo Authority not to breed tigers because they are expensive to maintain.
2. Free-market principles to wildlife preservation using wildlife farming and game ranching. Wildlife farming raises undomesticated animals in confined quarters, feeding and breeding them intensively, usually for slaughter. Game ranching manages undomesticated animals in their native habitats, usually with the intention of harvesting or allowing hunting of them for profit. I was reading an interesting letter titled 'Sell the Tiger to save it' by Mr. Barun Mitra to New York times. He advocates tiger firming in the line with China. Senior officials in China claim that they can produce 100,000 tigers in 10 to 15 years. URL of the letter is pasted below

http://www.savethetigerfund.org/Content/NavigationMenu2/Initiatives/CATT/TigerFarming/default.htm 

 

Bottom line Mr. Prime Minister is that we have to save tigers and must increase tiger population to at least 7,000 in next ten years.