Spotting by Akshay Kumar Manjunath, Nagarhole National Park
The 29th of July is celebrated as International Tiger Day as a way to increase awareness worldwide about the need for tiger conservation. The annual celebration was created in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit with the goal of promoting a global system to protect tigers’ natural habitats.
This is an urgent need, as pointed out in a previous blog on critically endangered large cats, since all six extant tiger species are listed as endangered by the IUCN. Over the past century, we have lost an astounding 97% of our world’s wild tigers, with perhaps only 3,200 of these cats left at large. Today, we will look at some of the negative and positive news regarding these cats in India, home to the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris).
In 2010, it was estimated that slightly more than 1,700 tigers still roamed natural areas in India. The severe decline in their numbers over the past 100 years has meant a great loss in genetic diversity. Recent research revealed that 93% of the DNA present in tigers killed during the time of British occupation is no longer present in India’s tigers today, which implies that considerable inbreeding may be occurring.
Currently, India has 43 tiger reserves in 17 states and the government envisions opening up several more areas. Camera-trap evidence of tigers in Goa, for example, is being used to bolster a proposal for a new reserve there. Some of the reserves are doing well and maintaining or increasing their tiger populations, while others are facing difficulties.
Spotting by Shazaad Kasmani in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve
Threats to the tiger
The Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, one of six tiger habitats In Madhya Pradesh state, had 59 tigers living in enclosed areas according to a 2010 census. This is a high density for the area, and has led to two concerns: possible inbreeding and fighting among the animals, which are by nature solitary cats. The discovery in early July 2013 of a tiger who died after being attacked by another cat resulted in strengthened recommendations that some cats be relocated to less densely populated reserves.
The Sundarbans Tiger Reserve is part of an extensive mangrove forest along the Indian Ocean. The delta has 102 low-lying islands, 48 of which are inhabited. This area, which protects coastal regions from storm surges and wind damage, is home to one of the largest wild tiger populations. Climate change is threatening this habitat, however; this mangrove forest and tiger habitat may be wiped out by 2070 unless efforts are undertaken to deal with rising sea levels. In the past 20 years, four islands have already been completely submerged.
Illegal mining is leading to tiger deaths and habitat loss in the Ranthambore National Park and Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan. The Sariska Reserve is also under threat from two other factors. Illegal vehicular traffic continues to cross the habitat on two forest roads that used to be state highways. In addition, illegal grazing of cattle from 28 villages in and outside the reserve is depleting the natural environment, with incidents of physical violence taking place against forestry staff by cattle owners and police refusing to intervene on behalf of the forestry staff.
Spotting by Deepankshi Chittora in Ranthambore National Park
In the late 1990s through about 2005, several reserves lost many or all of their tigers due mainly to poaching for the illegal wildlife trade (for example, Sariska and Ranthambore). In the last decade, Madhya Pradesh state lost 63% of its tigers (453 of 710 cats). The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau are tasked with enforcing the law and engaging states and local communities in preservation efforts. To increase cross-border collaboration in ending wildlife trafficking, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation collaborated with Interpol’s Environmental Crime Program to organize a five-day capacity-building workshop in June 2013 on “Integrated Investigative Capacity Building and Operational Planning for Asian Big Cat Related Crimes for South Asia.” Participants came from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The NTCA is also collaborating with TRAFFIC-India in “tigernet”, an online compilation of authentic records on the mortality of tigers and other key wildlife species across India.
Preservation and conservation work
Efforts to protect the big cats include research and practical measures. The Wildlife Institute of India is partnering with the NTCA in a new five-year study to determine the density, abundance and demographic ratio of tigers, co-predators and prey species in the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve and adjoining landscapes.
Spotting by DesiTraveler in Tadoba Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary, Mahara
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has worked with the Indian government to connect fragmented tiger populations by establishing corridors to link habitats, reducing conflict between humans and tigers in the process. IFAW also participates in rescuing and rehabilitating orphaned cubs of poached mothers so that they can be reintroduced into the wild.
Following reports of canine distemper in tigers in Indonesia and Russia, the NTCA recently asked officials in all tiger range states to take measures to prevent spread of the virus, including regular vaccination of stray cats, dogs and cattle that live around tiger reserves. The chief wildlife wardens have also been asked to report all cases of tigers behaving abnormally (inability to hunt, disorientation, vomiting and diarrhea) and to take tissue samples from dead animals to determine whether the canine distemper virus was the cause of death. It is thought that the increasing proximity of human habitations with domestic dogs to tiger habitats is leading to spread of the disease, which also has the unfortunate side effect of making the cats less fearful of people because infection can cause brain damage.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Sundarbans Program aims to increase the participation of local stakeholders in dealing with the effects of climate change in the area. Since February 2010, efforts have been made to assess the number of tigers in this coastal mangrove area using techniques such as camera traps, DNA sampling, pug mark surveys and assessment of tiger claw marks on trees. In 2013, camera trap surveys led to an estimate of 77 tigers, a higher number than the official government estimate.
WWF is also working to diminish wildlife-human conflicts, for example, by installing solar lights along pathways so that people can travel more safely. Between 2001 and 2011, killing of tigers by villagers was reduced to zero through positive engagement of the local population in forest protection and eco-development committees. Human life is still occasionally lost to big cats, however, and Wildlife Vets International (WVI) is planning to study whether canine distemper is leading healthy tigers in the Bangladeshi portion of the Sundarbans to attack humans and walk unperturbed into villages. Their findings will undoubtedly complement the Indian research efforts on this disease.
Tiger showing a flehmen response (smelling with the Jacobson’s organ located at the base of the nasal cavity), photographed by Karli
In July 2012, India’s Supreme Court banned tourists from entering the tiger reserves as a measure to help combat environmental degradation of habitats. Given the economic importance of tourism for local economies, however, the Court reversed its decision after four months and mandated that state-run reserves must enforce and implement NTCA guidelines, which call for restricting tourism to 20% of a reserve’s core areas and limiting construction in the tigers’ primary habitat areas. The policy is not applied uniformly by all states; some reserves are continuing to function as before, while those in Madhya Pradesh have cut the number of safaris and seen a 50% decline in tourist visits. Civil society groups are monitoring state compliance with the guidelines.
Citizen scientists are also making major contributions to tiger conservation in Andhra Pradesh state. The Hyderabad Tiger Conservation Society (HyTiCoS) was established in 2001 by 30 individuals who have worked for 20 years to build a network of citizen science stakeholders. These volunteers have trained Andhra Pradesh Forestry Department staff and local citizens to become “animal trackers” who conduct tiger and leopard monitoring research. HyTiCoS members undertake GIS-based habitat analyses, observe the behavior of tigers and other carnivores, collect DNA evidence, and track numbers of animals using camera traps and other methods.
HyTiCoS was able to initiate collaboration with scientific researchers based in Arizona in the United States. Through their Team Tiger Project, camera trap photos and reports from Indian volunteers are sent to individual donors in the USA so that the Indian group has developed a financial donor base.
Some reasons for hope
While some tiger reserves in India are still losing tigers due to poaching and other threats, a few reserves are seeing increases in their populations, which is a reason for hope. For example, a census of tigers taking place currently in the Srisailam Tiger Reserve indicates that they may have 75 animals compared to the 60 counted in 2011. With new cubs among the tigers seen, the forestry department is growing fodder in a 15-acre area to increase the number of grazing animals on which tigers prey. The forest reserves in Kerala state have seen an increase in their tiger population from 70 to 100 animals.
A final note: some tiger reserves are attempting to become more environmentally friendly in other ways. Madhya Pradesh’s Satpura Tiger Reserve, established in 2001, uses green energy in 110 camps. Using solar-powered pumps, they are also creating new water holes and artificial lakes for the big cats and their prey. Panna and Kanhais tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh also use solar power. A two-day conference in April 2013 was organized by the Ecotourism Society of India to discuss how traditional tiger tourism can be shifted toward a more environmentally friendly approach nationwide.
For further reading
Dog disease infecting tigers, making them fearless
International citizen science for Indian tiger conservation