India is home to the single largest tiger population with an estimated 1,411 Royal Bengal tigers spread across the country.

With 39 Tiger Conservation Landscapes, India has three quarters of all Bengal tigers, the remainder being found mostly in Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.

The two most important areas of tiger populations in India are the Sunderbans and the Western Ghats.

Sunderban, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, shared by India and Bangladesh, is the world’s largest mangrove forest with marshy lands providing enough livestock to support around 400 tigers.

The Western Ghats, in Southern India, an area of more than 13,000 square miles, is home to approximately 400 tigers.

However, whilst the Western Ghats population is in good health, the Sunderbans population faces major threats.

Colby Loucks, of WWF and the lead author of the study Sea Level Rise and Tigers: Predicted Impacts to Bangladesh’s Sundarbans Mangroves, forecasts a bleak future due to climate change:

“The projected sea level rise in the Sundarbans will likely outpace the tiger’s ability to adapt. It’s disheartening to imagine that the Sundarbans (which means ‘beautiful forest’ in Bengali) could be gone this century, along with its tigers.

“We hope that in this Year of the Tiger, the world will focus on curtailing the immediate threats to these magnificent creatures and preparing for the long-term impacts of climate change.”

In contrast, the Wildlife Conservation Society categorized the Western Ghats tiger population as in ‘green zone’ in it’s recent report Saving Tigers Now: A Prognosis for Tigers in Eight Priority Landscapes, meaning that tiger numbers are stable or increasing and conservation efforts are succeeding.

However, across the rest of India statistics suggest that conservation efforts have failed with a continuous decline and zero progress since 1970’s.

Belinda Wright, Executive Director, Wildlife Protection Society of India said: “There is huge poaching pressure in India right now. 74 tigers have been found dead between June and November 2009.”

ROYAL BENGAL TIGER FACTS

Royal Bengal tigers range in length from 1.8 to 2.7 m (6-9 ft), while the length of its tail can be over 90 cm.

An average Royal Bengal tiger weighs between 130-180 kg.

Its life expectancy is about 15-20 years and the females give birth to 3-4 cubs after a pregnancy of about 3.5 months.

Also known as Bengal tigers or Indian tigers, they are the only sub-species that also has a ‘white’ version, though this is rarely ever found in wild.

CONSERVATION ACTION REQUIRED

Though Royal Bengal tigers are the most populous of the tiger sub-species, the steady decline in numbers and Indian government’s dismal conservation record places a question mark over the future of the Indian tiger population.

It is time the Indian government starts accounting for all the money spent on tiger conservation, cuts bureaucracy and starts taking strict action, otherwise it seems that future generations of Indians will only be able to see their National animal in captivity.

by Pallavi Malhotra

TIGER FOCUS NO.2: INDONESIA (SUMATRAN TIGER)

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