Poaching, poisoning and infighting are killing our tigers.  While the majority of incidents have been reported from the Kanha Tiger Reserve (MP) and Kaziranga National Park (Assam), two tigers were found dead in Corbett Tiger Reserve as well.

Last month, the Army officials seized several tiger body parts at the Myanmar border, which goes to prove that poaching is still very rampant. Despite the ban, tiger parts are actively being traded illegally. In a lot of cases, it has been found that poverty forced the locals to resort to tiger killings for paltry sums from the traders.

Poverty alleviation and sensitizing the locals as well as general popualtion to the importance of conserving wildlife are the only ways to tackle the menace. While NGOs are actively doing their bit, the state authorities perhaps would do well to train and recruit locals as forest guards. That would serve both purposes – give them employment and make them partners in environment conservation. If the locals and the forest officials are together involved in prerservation of the tigers, I doubt the masterminds behind the poaching activities will find any success in their designs!

By the way, there has been further addition to the count since I first saw the above numbers, though that has been on account of tigers turning into man-eaters. Definitely attributable to humans again.

Tags: environment conservation, Save Earth, save nature, save tiger, Sustainable Living