[ Edit ] Overview

One of India's national symbols, we only seem to hear and think about Tigers when the Census results come out - usually when the numbers are declining - or when a human is killed by this beautiful mammal. 

In addition to being a national symbol, tigers are also at the apex of the food chain of wildlife in India. As such, they act as an umbrella species for conserving the biodiversity of our forested ecosystems and their survival is therefore important. 

Once found throughout the Indian Subcontinent, the Bengal Tiger's (the name of India's sub-species) natural habitat has drastically reduced and their population has been fragmented into many small isolated groups making them vulnerable to extinction.

Today, India is home to ~50% of the world's remaining tigers. Unfortunately, their population continues to decline - 60% in the last decade alone - and stands at an official census figure of only 1,411.  If you take into account statistical error, the figure could be as low as 1,165 tigers.

Since 1973, there has been a concerted effort by the Government of India to help protect Tigers.  In this regard, the Government established the Project Tiger initiative with the sole mandate of helping protect the endangered Tigers of India. 

Project Tiger has generally been considered a successful wildlife conservation project - considering there were only 1,200 tigers in India at the inception of Project Tiger.  However, there have been certain failures and recent challenges as well. For e.g., the entire population of the Sariska Tiger Reserve has been lost due to poaching.

There are 27 Project Tiger Reserves in India today.  Among the major Reserves are:

• Bandipur National Park  (Karnataka)
• Corbett National Park  (Uttarakhand)
• Kanha National Park  (Madhya Pradesh)
• Manas National Park  (Assam)
• Ranthambore National Park  (Rajasthan)
• Sunderban National Park  (West Bengal)

Rang7 and its Members have help create guides for a total of 30+ National Parks in India.

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Highlights

[ Edit ] About Bengal Tigers

There are eight subspecies of tigers with a historical range that ran through Bangladesh, Siberia, Iran, Afghanistan, India, China, and southeast Asia, including some Indonesian islands.  However, this range is substantially reduced today and 2 subspecies are actually extinct. 

Of these, India's Bengal Tiger subspecies (or the Royal Bengal Tiger or Panthera tigris tigris), represent the largest (~50% of total) remaining wild population. These tigers are distinguised by their yellow to light orange coat, and their stripes range from dark brown to black; their belly is white, and the tail is white with black rings.

The Bengal Tiger, is found in parts of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Burma. It is a very adaptive animal and lives in varied habitats including grasslands, subtropical and tropical rainforests, scrub forests, wet and dry deciduous forests, and mangroves.

Males in the wild usually weigh 205 - 227 kg (450 – 500 lb), while the average female weigh ~141 kg.

Other species of tigers, in addition to the Bengal Tiger, include:

• Indochinese Tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti), also called Corbett's Tiger (named after Jim Corbett) and found in Cambodia, China, Laos, Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam.
• Malayan Tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni), found in the southern part of the Malay Peninsula.
• Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
• Siberian Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), found in far eastern Siberia
• South China Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis), also called Amoy or Xiamen Tiger, found in Southern China - and thought to be potentially extinct in the wild. 

The species that are known to be already extinct include: the Balinese Tiger (Panthera tigris balica) and the Javan Tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica).

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[ Edit ] About Project Tiger

Project Tiger is a Government of India initiative established in 1973.  Initially, there were 9 Tiger Reserves, covering an area of 16,300 sq. kms and a population of 268 tigers in those reserves. As of 2008, there are 27 tiger reserves covering an area of ~37,800 sq kms (representing 1.14% of the total geographical area of India), and an estimated population of 1,498 tigers. 

At the outset, Project Tiger achieved much success and reversed the population decline.  However, the threat to the Bengal Tiger, and the decline in its population, has resumed in recent years. India's wild Tiger population is believed to have decreased from 3,642 in the 1990s to just over 1,400 in 2008.

Habitat losses and large-scale incidences of poaching are the most serious serious threats to Bengal Tigers. Poachers, aided by strong demand from China, kill tigers for their pelts and for their body parts (used to make various traditional East Asian medicines). Chinese believe using tiger's bones, teeth, and sexual organs , in their medicines, provides them with the tiger's strength.  Other factors contributing to their loss are urbanisation and killing by Farmers who blame tigers for killing their cattle.

The main objective of Project Tiger is:

"To ensure a viable population of tiger in India for scientific, economic, aesthetic, cultural, and ecological values and to preserve for all time, areas of biological importance as a natural heritage for the benefit, education and enjoyment of the people. Main objectives under the scheme include wildlife management, protection measures and site specific ecodevelopment to reduce the dependency of local communities on tiger reserve resources."

The Management Plans for each Reserve operates on three cardinal principles:

• Elimination of all kinds of exploitation and disturbance from the core Tiger Reserve area, while rationalizing such activities in the buffer.

• Limiting the habitat management to repairing the damages inflicted on it by biotic pressure so as to resurrect the habitat in its natural form.

• Researching facts about habitats and wild fauna, while monitoring the changes in flora/fauna owing to Project Tiger initiatives.

For more information on Project Tiger and Tiger conservation efforts in India, you can visit the official Ministry of Environment & Forests wedsite - click here 

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[ Edit ] Project Tiger Reserves in India

The complete list of Project Tiger Reserves in India, the location (State), and the year of induction are as follows:

There were 9 Tiger Reserves inducted in 1973, at the time that Project Tiger was announced.

• Bandipur National Park (Karnataka)
• Corbett National Park (Uttarakhand)
• Kanha National Park (Madhya Pradesh)
• Manas National Park (Assam)
• Melghat Tiger Reserve (Maharastra)
• Palamau National Park (Bihar)
• Ranthambore National Park
• Simlipal National Park (Orissa)     
• Sunderban National Park (West Bengal)

Subsequently, 18 others reserves were added to the Project Tiger list.

• Periyar Tiger Reserve (Kerala) - 1978
• Sariska National Park (Rajasthan) - 1978
• Buxa Tiger Reserve (West Bengal) - 1982
• Indravati Tiger Reserve (Chattisgarh) - 1982
• Nagarjunasagar Tiger Reserve  (Andhra Pradesh) - 1982
• Namdhapa Tiger Reserve (Arunachal Pradesh) - 1982
• Dudhwa Tiger Reserve  (Uttar Pradesh) 1987
• Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (Tamil Nadu) - 1988
• Valmiki National Park - (Bihar) 1989
• Pench National Park (Madhya Pradesh) - 1992
• Tadoba & Andhari Tiger Reserve (Maharastra) 1993
• Bandhavgarh National Park (Madhya Pradesh) 1993
• Panna National Park (Madhya Pradesh) 1994
• Dampha Tiger Reserve (Mizoram) 1994
• Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary (Karnataka) 1998
• Pench Wildlife Sanctuary (Maharastra) - 1998
• Pakhui-Nameri Tiger Reserve  (Arunachal Pradesh) - 1999
• Bori Wild Life Sanctuary National Park, Satpura, Pachmari Wild Life Sanctuary (Madhya Pradesh) - 1999

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