And,expert’s reason for dipping tiger count: vanishing prey

The optimism in his voice came as a surprise at a time when discussions revolving the big cat are full of dismal figures and shoddy affairs. “I think if we work in the right direction from now,we can effectively save this species,” says Karanth,who has worked in the interiors of states like Karnataka and Maharashtra.

“The save tiger story,is not about individual incidents that are so glorified today. We shout on television sets,write critically about how a tiger died,but we collectively don’t think of the larger picture,” said Karanth. So what exactly is the big picture? “Conservation,is not like business. There is no closure here. A tigress replaces herself 15 times in her lifetime. Meaning to say that mortality and reproductive cycles of tigers are quite fast. I don’t mean to say that poaching should not be our concern. But our concerns should rise from individual stories. The biggest threat to tigers in India is depletion of their chief prey like deer,wild pigs and wild cattle. As a result,although around 300,000 square kilometres of tiger habitat still remains,much of it is empty of tigers since there is not enough food for them to survive and breed successfully.”

Karanth’s longest project – the Nagarahole Tiger project,Karanataka,perhaps is a reflection of this. By rehabilitating populations,protecting forest cover and tackling poaching have built up a stable tiger population,say experts.

“What is reflective of the way we are handling the whole issue is the fact that the pugmark system of counting tigers survived for 40 years in India. There is no culture of science in the bureaucracy,” says Karanth. “We did upgrade to the sampling system,but I think we still need to come up with a more intensive methodology. I also don’t agree with having tiger census once in five years,we need to have an annual census.” Karanth has been protesting against the pug mark system for more than 20 years of the recent change.

But what concerns Karanth is not the 1,411 figure of tigers. “I think ideas need to change. We need to create tolerance for conservation. Land use has to change in the country. There is only 5 per cent terrestrial land under protected area. Of which only three per cent is used and the effective protected area is only one per cent. In the last 150 years,the range that tigers occupied in the world has shrunk by 93 per cent.

Tigers,today occupy only 7 per cent of the area. Also,relocation of people from forest areas is a big issue. We have government schemes ensuring relocation,but we need relocations in partnerships,otherwise so many leakages are possible.” The scientist has successfully made possible a lot of relocation. “If you look at it,human settlements in the middle of forests cause damage. Today there are 17 villages in Bhadra Tiger Reserve with 500 families,while in the 90’s,there were only nine families.”