Promoting The Community

Save Tiger


Factfile:



- India has fewer than 1400 Tigers left.

- 1 dies every 3 days

- Tigers will completely disappear and become extinct in our country in a decade.

- The highest instance of poaching in the country:[/ed] Karnataka



Why should we save the Tiger?



Our survival is dependent on the natural environment as it provides us with clean air, food and water. Tigers are at the apex of the food pyramid and are indicators of a healthy environment. The ‘Web of Life’: all things in nature, including humans, are interrelated - changing any component of the web will impact others. In saving the tiger we are protecting the entire ecosystem and all its inhabitants.





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What you can do to save the tiger?

The tiger is not just a charismatic species. It’s not just a wild animal living in some forest either. The tiger is a unique animal which plays a pivotal role in the health and diversity of an ecosystem. It is a top predator and is at the apex of the food chain and keeps the population of wild ungulates in check, thereby maintaining the balance between prey herbivores and the vegetation upon which they feed. Therefore the presence of tigers in the forest is an indicator of the well being of the ecosystem. The extinction of this top predator is an indication that its ecosystem is not sufficiently protected, and neither would it exist for long thereafter.

If the tigers go extinct, the entire system would collapse. For e.g. when the Dodos went extinct in Mauritius, one species of Acacia tree stopped regenerating completely. So when a species goes extinct, it leaves behind a scar, which affects the entire ecosystem. Another reason why we need to save the tiger is that our forests are water catchment areas.

When we protect one tiger, we protect about a 100 sq. km of area and thus save other species living in its habitat. Therefore, it’s not just about saving a beautiful animal. It is about making sure that we live a little longer as the forests are known to provide ecological services like clean air, water, pollination, temperature regulation etc. This way, our planet can still be home to our children.

Without adequate and timely protection there is a real possibility of these children never seeing a tiger in the wild once they grow up

Spread the word: Go out loud and tell others that tigers are dying and that they need our help. You can form forums (or join existing ones) on the web for discussions and exchange views on tiger conservation. Reach school going children. WWF can help you in this regard.

Be a responsible tourist: The wilderness is to be experienced and not to be disturbed and polluted. Follow the forest department guidelines when visiting any wilderness area, tiger reserve in particular. As the saying goes ‘Don’t leave thing anything behind except foot steps, and don’t take anything except memories.’

Write to the policy makers: If you are really concerned and feel that more needs to be done for tiger conservation, then write polite letters to the decision makers - the Prime Minister, the Minister for Environment and Forests or even your local MP.

Informing the nearest police station: If you know of any information on poaching or trade of illegal wildlife. You can also contact TRAFFIC- an organisation fighting the powerful poachers and pass on the information to them.

Reducing pressure on natural resources: By reducing the use of products derived from forests, such as timber and paper.

Support our work: Donating for this cause and encouraging others to donate too.

Trip to Sariska

Day 01 Delhi Arrival




Reach Delhi. GARHWAL HIMALAYAN EXPEDITION tour manager will give a warm welcome at the airport. Transfer to your hotel. After having some rest proceed for sightseeing of Old & New Delhi. Over night stay at hotel.



Day 02 Delhi - Sariska (240 Kms. 4.5 hrs)

After breakfast drive to Sarsika upon arrival in Sariska check in to hotel. Evening enjoy the Jeep safari in Sariska National Park. This park is known for its tigers. There are about 35 tigers at Sariska. Other predators of the forest include the panther, jungle cat, jackal, hyena, and fox. Also found are sambhar, chital, wild boar, hare, nilgai, civet, four-horned antelope, gaur (Indian bison) and porcupine. Overnight at hotel



Day 03 Sariska - Ranthambore (110KMS/2.5HRS)



After breakfast drive to Ranthambore. On arrival in Ranthambore - check in at the hotel. Ranthambore Wildlife Sanctuary - Rajasthan's most renowned wildlife sanctuary, it is 400 sq kms of dry deciduous forest, perfect natural habitat for tigers, and is set in the Aravalli and Vindhya hills, dotted with pavillions and dominated by a hilltop fort. Ranthambore was one of the hunting preserves of the former rulers of Jaipur and because of this the Maharajas ensured the environment was preserved and the forest and their inhabitants well protected. It has a good population of tiger and their prey species, and has been declared a "Project Tiger" reserve. Wildlife includes blue bull, black buck, spotted deer or cheetal, wild boar, a large variety of bird species and, if very lucky, the rarely seen leopard.

Rest of the day at leisure. Overnight: Hotel



Day 05: Jaipur - Bharatpur

Morning drive to Amber Fort,enjoy elephant ride & visit Amber Fort. Later drive to Bharatpur. Afternoon half day birding inside Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary - UNESCO site. Overnight stay at hotel.



Day 06: Bharatpur - Fatehpur - Agra (40 kms)

Morning drive to Agra - . Enroute visit Fatehpur Sikri & later transfer to Hotel in Agra. After visit Agra Fort & Taj Mahal, later birdwatching behind Taj Mahal. Overnight stay at Hotel.



Day 04 Ranthambore - Jaipur (200KMS/04HRS)

Morning after breakfast drive to Jaipur- the pink city of Rajasthan, upon arrival in Jaipur check into hotel. Afternoon excursion to Jaipur city visiting Hawa mahal, City Palace & observatory. Later return to hotel for overnight stay.



Day 07: Agra - Delhi

Morning after breakfast checkout from the hotel and drive back to delhi. Upon arrival drop you at Delhi airport to catch the flight for onward destination

Just Not Burning Bright

TIGER, perhaps the most charismatic of all animals are a treat to the eyes of




most of the animal lovers. It is also a symbol of strength and courage. Its presence says it all. It has inspired many writings and phrases. Tiger by William Blake is one such with the immortal catch line “Tiger tiger, burning bright...” But unfortunately the fate of this majestic animal is no brighter. At present there are only about 1,500 tigers left in India.



Tigers are believed to have evolved over one million years ago in Asia. From there the tiger spread north to the Amur region of eastern Russia, south to the islands of Indonesia, and southwest to Indochina and the Indian subcontinent. The presence of eight subspecies of tiger was known worldwide of which three have already been extinct. In India, we have the Royal Bengal Tiger, the most threatened large carnivore in India and the White Tiger which is a mutant of the Bengal tiger itself. At the turn of the 19th century, an estimate of the tiger population in India placed the figure at 45,000. In 1972, the first official census of tigers was conducted in India which revealed the existence of only 1,827 tigers. With such a drop in the tiger population in India, the government was forced to set up a special task force in 1972.



Based on the recommendation of this task force, Project Tiger was launched on April 1, 1973. The project tiger now covers 28 reserves in 17 states. In northeast India there are three such reserves — Manas, Pakke-Nameri and Namdapha.



Under the project, management plans were drawn up for each tiger reserve based on:



n Elimination of all forms of human exploitation and biotic disturbance from the core area and rationalization of activities in the buffer zone.



n Restricting the habitat management only to repair the damages done to the eco-system by human and other interferences so as to facilitate recovery of the ecosystem to its natural state.



n Monitoring the faunal and floral changes over time and carrying out research about wildlife.



The general threats to the tiger population is similar to most of the threats faced by other organisms in the present day world such as habitat destruction, pollution of habitat, depletion of prey population, etc. Additionally, the tiger also faces a major threat in form of poaching. Tigers are killed as many of their body parts are highly rated in international market.



“Got money, take tiger” seems to be the new courtesy greeting in the market streets of Tibet as they are full of peddlers selling tiger skins. It seems that the Indian tigers are turning out to be the latest fashion victims. Almost every part of this magnificent cat is sold and that too at an abominable high price, i.e. around $320-$2,000. Closer home, CBI officials estimated around Rs 60,000 per tiger skin to be earned by the notorious poacher Sansar Chand, kingpin of the Sariska tragedy.



Apart from the lucrative sums of money earned from tiger trade, this animal is also killed for its presumable healing powers. People believe that tiger bones cure rheumatism, potions made from its whiskers evoke strength, tiger tails mixed with soap cure skin afflictions and the list goes on.



The episode of Sansar Chand during the Sariska tragedy opened eyes wide to the inhuman activities related to the tiger. It was in December, 2004, that India learnt about the disappearances of tigers from Sariska tiger reserve in Rajasthan. By March 2005, the Wildlife Institute of India confirmed that no tigers were indeed left in Sariska. The CBI reported that the disappearance of tigers was mainly due to heinous poaching and tiger trade by middlemen, some local villagers with Sansar Chand at the centre. The nation had hardly recovered from this shock that another was knocking at its door. In November 2005, it was declared that Namdapha tiger reserve in northeast India was also stripped of these majestic creatures. The Namdapha episode was even more disastrous than Sariska as it boasted of 61 tigers as opposed to the 22 big cats of Sariska. All these pointed to sinister activities around this animal which was steadily leading to its destruction.

The reasons for the decline of this animal seem not only poaching and tiger trade but also lack of proper tiger census and monitoring techniques. Earlier, tiger census was carried out mostly by pug mark count where foot impressions of tiger were used as the source regarding various aspects of tiger. But many modern scientists are skeptic about the method as they believe that the pug mark counting process was not uniform in all the tiger reserves. The census of tigers is not only carried out by pug mark count but sometimes also by keeping count of their skin, hair, claws, paws and whiskers. This technique shows a terrifying total of 700 tiger deaths between the years 1994-2004, as per Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) figures.


Back home in Assam itself, various studies are conducted to sustain a steady population of this illusive animal. On that regard a recent ongoing study of the tigers by Aaranyak in Orang National Park is already showing encouraging signs. One of the most interesting aspects of this study is the use of modern camera trapping technique for tiger census. For this study 27 camera traps were installed and were surveyed for twenty days. Twenty photographs were obtained in the study period of seven individual tigers which were segregated based on the patterns of the stripes on their body which are unique in themselves.



Basically a camera trap is a technique where the photograph of the animal is used as a source of data. For this, at first a site in the forest is selected which is thought to be most frequently visited by animals; in this case, the tiger. Then two cameras are set opposite to each other providing enough space for animals to pass through. Adjacent to the cameras, an infrared sensor is placed. The ray emitted by the sensors is collected by a receiver. The rays actually form an invisible line in the path of the animal. When the animal crosses this path the continuous invisible beam of light is obstructed. This triggers the cameras on both sides to take snaps of the animal simultaneously. Picture of both sides of a tiger is required to confidently identify an individual. As stripes of either side are different, using stripes on one side would be misleading and may lead to inflated number of tigers in an area.



Though in a budding phase, these studies hold the key to the sustenance of this Big Cat. But the fact is only a handful of researchers are not going to save a species, until and unless we realize the importance of coexistence. Also if we humans take it too long to realize that we are just a mere strand in this web of life and any alteration in this web will affect us the same way as it does to others, maybe, there will be no one left to discuss or to be discussed.

No More Pugmark-tracking for Tiger Count

Pug-mark tracking” are history. Camera trap a new technique to count the population of Tiger has been recently introduced in India. Jairam Ramesh, the Environment and Forest Minister of India, told Rajya Sabha that the old system of Tiger counting through Pugmark tracking was inefficient. So, Camera trap technique has been started.




Moreover, the Minister has informed that it is not possible for India to follow the US and Chinese model of breeding tigers in captivity. He said that India has 1,150 to 1,600 Tigers that are available in the wild and will remain in wild. He had suggested that instead of Tiger census in every four years, it would be more appropriate if the Tiger census is conducted once in every two years.



He said that that instead of policing, if incentives are declared for the local communities, than it will be more effective in protecting the ecosystem . He informed Rajya Sabha that he had already spoken to 200 vangujar families who reside within Jim Corbett National Park. He has decided to initiate a social force with the help of these people. In return of their help, they will be rewarded and given the facility of mobility and connectivity.



According to this plan, people staying in Tiger reserves would be moved to buffer zones while there will be no human presence in the core inviolate area. He added that about 80,000 to 1 lakh people will be shifted to buffer zones and compensation would be increase from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.



National Green Tribunal for speedy trials are going to be framed by the Environment and Forest Ministry for speedy trials of the poachers and people involving in illegal trading of wildlife . He said “If the Act needs change. I am open to it,” and also informed that Wildlife Crime Control Bureau is there to handle such cases.

Life in a forest

Life in a Forest: The Bigger Picture


If asked to define a forest, most of us will straightaway think of trees.

While it is true that trees dominate - they are the biggest organisms present there, there are many of them, and they don't move about - a forest is in fact a community of not just plants and animals, but of micro-organisms as well.



Throw into the mix the non-living, abiotic components like soil, climate and water, and take in the complex interrelationships among the organisms and the environment, and we are closer to an actual understanding of this ecosystem.



Over two-thirds of known terrestrial species

Over 30% of the Earth's surface is covered with forests. They are among the most notable storehouses of biological diversity on the land - they house over two-thirds of known terrestrial species; they also harbour the largest share of threatened species.



Forests and Humans

Forests have a variety of uses to humans, including wood from trees, nutrition from animals, for grazing, recreation, medicinal and so on.



At the present time, conservationists are still arguing about a 'technical' definition of a forest. According to The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO), a forest does not stop being a forest just because the trees are gone.



While that may be so, it is important to understand how the disappearing green cover and the resultant threat to habitats and to human life fits into the bigger picture of life on the planet.



The forest ecosystem

The forest is a complex ecosystem - a biological system with distinct, myriad interrelationships of the living part of the environment (plants, animals and micro-organisms) to each other and to the non-living, inorganic or abiotic parts (soil, climate, water, organic debris, rocks).



Picture it as an intricate web - fragile but at the same time holding the ecosystem together.



Forest variety and distribution

Forests come in all sizes and types - from the northern taiga to the scrub forests of arid regions to the rainforests of the humid tropics.



They are found on moving glaciers¹ , in fresh and salt water, on arctic mountain slopes. They do not occur in isolation from the rest of the landscape. The type of forest in a given area depends on many elements, including climate, soil, water source, rainfall patterns, seed sources and human influence.



The complex ecological relationships involving forests could allow humans to benefit from them in a variety of ways. However, a deeper understanding of these relationships is crucial for development of effective forest management and policy options.