Tigers (Panthera tigris) are the largest and the heaviest of the big cat family. The name ‘Tiger’ is derived from the Greek word ‘Tigris’, meaning ‘arrow’, which itself may have been originated from Persian, symbolizing the animal’s speed. They are mainly found in South and East Asia, and a sub-species called the Siberian Tigers in Eastern Siberia. The fact that they are solitary animals needing vast landscapes to prey and that they are found in some of the most populous countries have led to their decreasing count.

A group of tigers is a rare sight, as they are solitary animals, but when seen is called an ‘ambush’. Their strength, stripes and speed has charmed men from time immemorial and has been included in our ancient mythologies. Their stripes are unique to them; the pattern and density of the stripes differs from tiger to tiger; the colour of the stripes too varies from brown to pure black. These mainly serve as camouflages; helping them to hide, blend with the surrounding landscape and hunt down their preys. This sort of hunting is called ambushing the prey.

India is known as the ‘land of Tigers’. One of the eight sub-species, the Bengal Tiger/ Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) is found in the parts of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Burma.

Project Tiger is a wild life conservation program in India started on April 1, 1976; by the then prime minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi. It is considered as the most successive conservation projects; in fact doubling their population then to some 3000. Recent survey by the Government of India noted a sharp decline in their population to 1,411; this is mainly due to poaching for tiger fur, bones and other tiger products and loss of their natural habitat due to climate changing and human activities like logging, farming and encroachment of forests.

There is a popular belief, especially in China, that by consuming tiger parts, one can get the strength and valor of a tiger. This has resulted in huge demand for tiger skin, teeth and other body parts. So, a poacher becomes more powerful than a tiger. Should be bow our head before these myths? Moreover, a poached tiger fetches about Rs 5, 00,000; hence is more precious than a live tiger for many.

According to Valmik Tapper, an Indian wildlife and conservationist, in an era when forest and wildlife laws are being tinkered with to enable speedy environmental clearances for ‘development’ projects, many would see tiger as a liability. His book ‘The last tiger’ was launched when people were amazed to see the tigers vanishing from natural reserves. He strongly mentions in his book that the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) did not even hold meetings for years and embarrassed him when some Prime Ministers dozed off during these rare meetings. He is a critic of Project Tiger, blaming the mismanagement by forest bureaucracy that is largely not scientifically trained. He criticized the Government for not curbing poaching through armed patrols and its refusal to open forests to scholarly scientific enquiry. “Is there any hope for the tiger if the country’s leaders do not intervene”, questions Thapper.

Educating the locals about protecting the wild and conserving the fragile flora and fauna is firstly important. Including the local villagers and forest dwellers as tourist guides and involving them in the active campaign against poaching and spreading the importance of tigers at the top of our food chain, thereby ensuring a balanced and healthy eco-system are essential. Attracting Western tourists to our Tiger Reserves can draw in more dollars than a dead tiger. Poaching laws should be made stricter. Cutting down of trees and de-forestation should be prevented. Measures to tract down the nation’s tiger count must be done scientifically and accurately using satellite and radio telemetry equipments. Encourage eco tourism. This can boost the country’s economy and funds to save the wildlife. An elephant safari is the best to get closer to wildlife, as it closely associates with other animals without disturbing the wildlife and is a less noise pollutant; so you can clearly listen to the sounds and see scenes of the wild.

Though the Government of India took efforts to curb poaching by increasing the number of forest guards and their pay, nothing much has been achieved.

There had been recent protests by thousands when the Government of India under Mr. Man Mohan Singh announced its plan to extend a tiger reserve in South India, fearing loss of their homes to the sanctuary.

The tigers have to compete with the ever increasing human population for land and food. This has driven them to taste human flesh, although they are essentially not man-eaters like the Leopards. So, many had to be killed as they posed a threat to human life.

The Therevada Buddhist temple in Thailand was founded in 1994 as a forest temple and sanctuary for wild animals. In 1999, it received the first tiger cub rescued by the villagers. Ever since then, their numbers have increased. The monks here are seen interacting freely with the tigers without fear. Visitors can pose with these wild creatures for few dollars. Recently, there have been controversies that they are not rescued tigers but obtained from illegal tiger trading farms. The temple authorities were criticized for abusing the animals, illegal trading and interbreeding of different sub-species of tigers, but the monks denied all these charges, claiming they were saving the tigers with the intention of releasing them to the wild. What they fail to understand is that captive tigers cannot contribute to the wild tiger conservation; they even forget their preying skills when released into the wild; the world is full of captive tigers! It is the wild tiger whose life is in jeopardy and needs our immediate concern.

Three out of the eight sub-species of Tiger have already disappeared within the past 60 years; let us prevent the remaining endangered ones to evolve into an extinct list. If we hesitate to act wisely in protecting them and their natural habitat, they would continue to dwindle; although a few might end up captive in our zoos, one day they would be just in our myths and stories alone but none to walk fiercely and freely on our wild Earth!

Your comments and suggestions are highly appreciated and so your actions to fight against poaching and illegal trading of tiger parts.