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Project Tiger

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Project Tiger
Banner logo of Project Tiger
Tiger conservation programme overview
Formed1 April 1973
MottoIndia Leads Tiger Conservation
Parent departmentNational Tiger Conservation Authority
Websitehttps://ntca.gov.in/

Project Tiger is a wildlife conservation movement initiated in India to protect the endangered tiger. The project was initiated in 1973 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of India. As of March 2024, there are 55 protected areas that have been designated as tiger reserves under the project. As of 2023, there were 3,682 wild tigers in India, which is almost 75% of the world's wild tiger population.

History and objectives

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Wildlife population

Project Tiger was initiated in 1973 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of India. The project was initiated to protect the Bengal Tiger and its habitats and to establish dedicated tiger reserves for sustaining tiger populations.[1] As per the section 38 of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, the state governments are responsible preparing a Tiger Conservation Plan which includes planning and management of notified areas and maintaining the requisite competent staff to ensure the protection of the tiger reserve and providing inputs for maintaining a viable population of tigers, co-predators and prey animals.[2][3]

Tiger reserves consist of a core area which includes part(s) of protected areas such as a national park or a wildlife sanctuary and a buffer zone which is a mix of forested and non-forested land. Project tiger is aimed at performing the necessary activities to ensure viability of tiger population in the core area and to promote a balance between the existence of people and animals in the buffer zones.[1] In 2006, National Tiger Conservation Authority was formed to administer the tiger reserves which were set up as a part of Project Tiger with Project Tiger becoming a centrally sponsored scheme (CSS) to provide funding for the establishment and administration of the tiger reserves.[1]

In 1973, nine protected areas were initially designated as tiger reserves. By the late 1980s, the initial nine reserves covering an area of 9,115 km2 (3,519 sq mi) had been increased to 15 reserves covering an area of 24,700 km2 (9,500 sq mi).[4] By 1997, 23 tiger reserves encompassed an area of 33,000 km2 (13,000 sq mi).[5] As of March 2024, there are 55 protected areas that have been designated as tiger reserves.[2]

Tiger population

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State wise tiger population (2018)

During the tiger census of 2006, a new methodology was used extrapolating site-specific densities of tigers, their co-predators and prey derived from camera trap and sign surveys using GIS. Based on the result of these surveys, the total tiger population was estimated at 1,411 individuals ranging from 1,165 to 1,657 adult and sub-adult tigers of more than 1.5 years of age.[6][7] The 2010 National Tiger Assessment estimated the total population of wild tigers in India at 1,706. As per Ministry of Environment and Forests, the wild tiger population in India stood at 2,226 in 2014 with an increase of 30.5% since the 2010 estimate.[8]

In 2018, according to the National Tiger Conservation Authority, there were an estimated 2,603–3,346 wild tigers with an average of 2,967 in existence in India.[9] The wild tiger population increased to 3,682 as of 2022.[10] As India is home to majority of the global wild tiger population, the increase in population of tigers in India played a major role in driving up global populations as well; the number of wild tigers globally rose from 3,159 in 2010 to 3,890 in 2016 according to the World Wide Fund and Global Tiger Forum.[11]

Management and administration

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A Bengal tiger in Mudumalai tiger reserve

Project Tiger is headed by an additional director general (ADG) based at New Delhi with regional offices at Bangalore, Guwahati and Nagpur.[1] The wildlife habitats that fall under Project Tiger are categorized into different conservation units: Shivalik-Terai, North East, Sunderbans, Western ghats, Eastern ghats, Central India and Sariska.[12]

Function under the ambit of Project Tiger include protection of tiger habitats, daily monitoring, facilitating ecological development for local people in the buffer zones, voluntary relocation of people from core/critical tiger habitats and addressing human-wildlife conflicts. As a part of the project, state are provided assistance on curtailing poaching activities such as disseminating information on poachers, assisting in combing forest floor to check for traps and other anti-poaching activities, maintaining tiger database, providing grants and training for deployment of Special Tiger Protection Force.[13]

Wireless communication systems, infrared thermal cameras and monitoring systems have been developed within the tiger reserves to assist in patrol activities.[14][15]

Challenges

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Project Tiger's efforts are hampered by poaching, deforestation, construction and irregularities in administration of certain reserves.[16][17][18] The Forest Rights Act enacted by the Indian government in 2006 recognizes the rights of forest dwelling communities in the buffer zones. Some of the wildlife experts have questioned the implications of the same on tiger conservation as it will increase human-animal conflict and might give opportunities for poaching.[19][20] While others argue that this overlooks the reality of human-tiger coexistence and the abuse of power by authorities wherein local people who have been co-existing with the animals being evicted from their traditional lands rather than allowing them a proper role in decision-making to aid the tiger crisis.[21][22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Project Tiger". National Tiger Conservation Authority. Archived from the original on 5 April 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b Tiger reserves (Report). National Tiger Conservation Authority. Archived from the original on 18 March 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  3. ^ "Project Tiger" (PDF). Government of India. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  4. ^ Panwar, H. S. (1987). "Project Tiger: The reserves, the tigers, and their future". In Tilson, R. L.; Sel, U. S. (eds.). Tigers of the world: the biology, biopolitics, management, and conservation of an endangered species. Park Ridge, N.J.: Minnesota Zoological Garden, IUCN/SSC Captive Breeding Group, IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group. pp. 110–117. ISBN 978-0-815-51133-5. Archived from the original on 31 March 2024. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  5. ^ Thapar, V. (1999). "The tragedy of the Indian tiger: starting from scratch". In Seidensticker, J.; Christie, S.; Jackson, P. (eds.). Riding the Tiger. Tiger Conservation in human-dominated landscapes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 296–306. ISBN 0-521-64057-1.
  6. ^ Jhala, Y. V.; Gopal, R. & Qureshi, Q. (2008). Status of the Tigers, Co-predators, and Prey in India (PDF). TR 08/001. National Tiger Conservation Authority, Govt. of India, New Delhi; Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 June 2013.
  7. ^ "India's tiger population sees 33% increase". BBC. 2019. Archived from the original on 1 August 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  8. ^ "Tiger Estimate in India" (PDF). Public Information Brochure. Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. 28 March 2011. p. 9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
  9. ^ Jhala, Y. V.; Qureshi, Q. & Nayak, A. K. (2020). Status of tigers, co-predators and prey in India 2018 (PDF) (Report). New Delhi, Dehradun: National Tiger Conservation Authority, Government of India, Wildlife Institute of India. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  10. ^ Qureshi, Q.; Jhala, Y. V.; Yadav, S. P. & Mallick, A. (2023). Status of tigers, co-predators and prey in India 2022 (PDF) (Report). New Delhi, Dehradun: National Tiger Conservation Authority & Wildlife Institute of India. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 May 2024. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  11. ^ "2967 – What the new global Tiger number means". WWF. 2016. Archived from the original on 27 September 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  12. ^ "Project Tiger: Everything You Need to Know About This Initiative". 27 February 2020. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  13. ^ "About us, Project Tiger". National Tiger Conservation Authority. Archived from the original on 5 April 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  14. ^ ""MSTrIPES": Monitoring System for Tigers – Intensive Protection & Ecological Status" (PDF). National Tiger Conservation Authority, Wildlife Institute of India, Zoological Society of London. India Environment Portal. 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  15. ^ "Valmiki Tiger Reserve conducts training workshop on wildlife monitoring using wireless technology". WWF India. 19 September 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  16. ^ "Rajasthan's Sariska may become tiger-less again". Firstpost. 13 June 2019. Archived from the original on 21 November 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Highway threatens tiger territory in Arunachal Pradesh". The Hindu. 24 February 2020. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Namdapha National Park facing rampant deforestation". Northeast Now. 12 March 2020. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  19. ^ Buncombe, A. (31 October 2007). "The face of a doomed species". The Independent. Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  20. ^ Strahorn, Eric A. (1 January 2009). An Environmental History of Postcolonial North India: The Himalayan Tarai in Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal. Peter Lang. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-433-10580-7.
  21. ^ Tiger Task Force Report (Report). Government of India. 2005. Archived from the original on 27 March 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
  22. ^ "Campaign for Survival and Dignity Tiger Conservation: A Disaster in the Making". Forestrightsact.com. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
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