Royal Bengal Tiger in headlines again
Introduction
Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigiris tigiris) is in news
again. And this time for a wrong reason. Media all over the nation took a
sympathetic side with this poster species for registering the highest ever
annual death numbers in the just concluded year ever since the National Tiger
Conservation Authority (NTCA) began building a database on India’s tiger
mortality in 2012. As reported in the media ,for the first time in the last ten
years, 126 tiger deaths have been recorded in a single calendar year-2021 (up
to 29 December 2021) - slightly higher than the tally of 121 for the year 2016.
Virtually one tiger in the Indian wilderness was dying every third day. Most
press and media expressed deep concern for the increase in tiger deaths in the
context of escalating incidence of poaching and human-tiger conflict.
In the sideline of man-tiger
conflict, I wish to share a copy of the Tiger Warning notice given by the
President of the Waltair Gymkhana Club to the golfers in April 1918. So the tiger
conflict issues are nothing new to man in the country.
As I browsed the authority’s
website on the last day of the calendar year, one more death has been added in the
Maharashtra’s account on the 30th December, taking the toll to 127. So,
is this indicative of a pattern of accelerating tiger casualties? Does this
data point to a disturbing situation for tiger conservation in the country? The
wildlife authorities consider the numbers as something normal for the
population of tigers in the wild. However, enthusiasts and tiger lovers would
like to find some convincing answer to these worrying queries. I attempt to
address these searching questions in a pragmatic way so that all concerned gain
an objective perspective about the issue.
Process for analyzing tiger mortality at NTCA
Over the years, the NTCA has
developed the nation’s tiger mortality database on a firm footing. The database
looks apparently sound, given the robustness of the methods adopted for
attributing the cause for each tiger death, reported from across the range
states. The country’s tiger
conservation body follows a rigorous protocol in maintaining the tiger
mortality records. The NTCA enters a tiger death into its database only based
on an authentic source from the State Government reports. In case of a third
party report of tiger mortality from a state, the same is entered only after
obtaining a confirmation from the State. All tiger deaths are dealt as per
the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in this regard under suitable provisions
of India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The onus of proving a case of death
as natural or poaching with adequate and clinching evidences like Necropsy
report, Pathology report, Coloured photographs, Forensic reports and other
report as per the SOP format rests with the concerned State. NTCA headquarters
carry out an elaborate analysis to ascribe a tiger’s death to certain specific
cause(s). In the event of any doubt, in spite of the evidences, the case is
closed as poaching. The database has information on the year wise, month wise,
state wise, reserve wise mortality rate of deaths and cause for deaths since
2012. For the current year (2021), data for each tiger death event is
available.
Let us look at the recorded tiger deaths since the launch of the database by the NTCA.
Annual
mortality rate
A scrutiny of the database reveals that tiger
mortality in the country ranged between 68 and 127 between 2002 and 2021, the
lowest and the highest figures recorded during 2013 and 2021, respectively.
With a total of 984 registered deaths during this ten year period, the country
lost an average of 98 tigers of all ages and sex annually. And on five occasions
within the decade, yearly mortality figures crossed the century mark (Fig.1).
State wise mortality of tigers
Forests of few states boast of more number of tigers
in the wild, as corroborated from the once-in-four year census cycle. The total
population of tiger was estimated at 2,967 in the 2018 census, as against 2,226
in the 2014 estimation.
Eight among the 18 range states
supported striped big cat population of over 100 individuals in both these
years. The top rankers are Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttrakhand, Maharashtra, Tamil
Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh in that order during 2018. These eight
states together had a tiger population of 2,621, accounting for 88.3 per cent
of the country’s population.
The database has updated figures
available under this grouping for the period up to 2020. Tiger mortality data
for these top eight states (same as population count), sourced from the website
for the period 2012-2020 is presented in Figure 2.
As per the information, death of a
total of 857 tigers was reported from across 22 states in the country. Eight
states recorded more than 40 deaths in this period, with three states of Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka registering three digit mortality numbers.
The eight states cumulatively alone contributed to 770 deaths out of the total
and thus accounted for nine out of every ten tiger casualties.
I tried to comprehend the gravity
of mortality statistics with reference to the reported population of these 8 most
populated states. It is seen from the nine year casualty figures that the
computed average annual death ranged from 4.9 to 22.4 animals, Uttar Pradesh
and Madhya Pradesh, recording the lowest and the highest averages, respectively.
These annual averages by themselves mean little for tiger conservation in a
state, unless one matches them with the absolute population numbers in the
respective state. For instance, the per cent of tigers with reference to total population
that died in a year on an average worked out to 3.2 at national level. When the
per cent death to the population in 2018 in these eight states was worked out,
it varied between 2.3 and 5.0 per cent. States such as Maharashtra, Madhya
Pradesh and Assam exceeded the national average by recording 5.0, 4.2 and 3.3
per cent death, respectively. We will examine the implications of such high
death per cent with reference to the population in subsequent pages.
Causes for tiger mortality
Causes of tiger death have been classified into
natural, unnatural (not poaching), poaching and seizures and this has been
completed up to the year 2018. For the years 2019 and 2020, a category namely ‘under
scrutiny’ has been included, which suggests that the exact reason for the death
is yet to be assigned to one of the above four categories. Given the importance
of this aspect of evaluation of tiger mortality that has serious portents for
conservation and management of tigers in their distribution range, such
inordinate delay in concluding the cause of tigers’ death for nearly three
years appears a matter of concern.
Analysis of data for the seven
years period (2012-2018) indicates that natural and non-poaching unnatural causes
contributed to maximum of tiger deaths every year. However, poaching and
seizures claimed between 27 per cent (2015) and 49 per cent (2013) of tiger
deaths (Fig.3). Thus, poaching, and illegal consignments and
trade in tiger parts are considered as a cause for worry in tiger conservation.
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Location of tiger mortality events
The database presents
the tiger mortalities from 2012-2020 into three groups on the basis of the
location of tiger mortality events, namely the deaths that took place inside
tiger reserves, those events that happened outside tiger reserves and episodes
of seizures. Data reveals that out of total 857 tiger mortality events 55.8 per
cent (478 tiger deaths) of all the mortality events took place inside the tiger
reserves, and 31.6 per cent (271 tiger deaths) of tiger mortalities were
recorded outside the boundary of tiger reserves and 12.6 per cent (108) were
seizures (Fig.4)
Analysis of 2021 data
Taking a clue from the recorded numbers and with
2021 registering the maximum number of casualties in the past decade and considering
the availability of details in respect of each death in the website of the
authority, I tried to analyze the data for 2021 in little more detail.
Tiger mortality has been reported
from 14 range states of the country, with Rajasthan, West Bengal and Andhra
Pradesh recording just one death each during the entire year. Four states viz.,
Madhya Pradesh (42), Maharashtra (27), Karnataka (15) and Uttar Pradesh (10)
alone contributed to a total of 94 deaths, accounting for more than three
fourth of the recorded deaths.
While 63 deaths were reported from
inside the tiger reserves (TRs), the balance 64 was recorded in areas outside
the TRs. In the first reporting, in about 59 cases age of the tiger and in
about 58 cases, the sex of the tiger have not been indicated by the reporting
state. This might be due to several reasons like the extremely decomposed state
of the carcass, depredation of the carcass by wild scavengers, missing vital
parts of the animal etc. But with the aid of the necropsy evaluation of the
dead animal, the forensic experts must be in a position to establish the sex
and approximate age of the dead tiger. Of the total deaths, 12 cases
relate to seizures of tiger body parts only. It might be possible that the
seizure is pertaining to one or more animal and that may not be linked to a
death that occurred in the current period. Telangana has uniquely reported four
out of the total 13 seizure incidents.
Impressions from the 2018 tiger counts
Thirteen range countries of Bengal tiger
including India signed an agreement in 2010 to double tiger numbers by 2022.
The good news is that India was inching towards the target by 2018, when its
tiger count tallied 2967 up from 1706 in 2010. The ongoing 2022 census will
hopefully give us a signal as to whether we are nearing the goal post.
The
country had 50 tiger reserves in 2018. It added another tiger reserve, namely Srivilliputhur-Meghamalai
TR in Tamil Nadu during 2021, taking the number to 51. The total extent of 51 tiger reserves
in the country is 72, 044 sq.km.
This is a colossal
extent of area demanding special attention, given the total recorded forest cover
area of 7,12,249 sq.km of the
country as per 2019 India State Forest Report.
An understanding of the tiger
densities in their occupied territories and reproductive biology of tigers in
the wild will be essential to plan and implement landscape specific
conservation programmes.
It is
generally observed that the absolute numbers of tigers in a state or within a tiger
reserve vary vastly. That is why the country has both categories of tiger
reserves (TR) that bear a single digit tiger population and those with three
digit numbers. Mukundra Hill TR in Rajasthan, Sanjay-Tubri TR in Madhya Pradesh,
Bor TR and Nawegaoan Nagzira TR, Udanti-Sitanadi TR in Chattisgarh, Simlipal TR
in Odisha etc., fall in the former category. Palamu TR in Jharkhand recorded
nil tiger. Corbett TR in Uttarakhand (231), Bhandavgarh TR in Madhya Pradesh
(104) Bandipur (126) and Nagerhole (125) TRs in Karnataka, Mudumalai TR in
Tamil Nadu (103) for instance support tigers exceeding 100. Incidentally, the
latter group of TRs has recorded higher tiger densities (numbers per100 sq.km)
as well.
Core-buffer
strategy in tiger conservation encompassing reserved forest buffers alongside
the PA core zones in the tiger reserves has come a long way in ensuring the
habitat contiguity and integrity that provide better chance for tigers’
survival. Chances of their long term conservation goals are heightened when
many tiger reserves form part of a large landscape or block.
Cutting across
administrative boundaries of a State or a tiger reserve, presence of large and
intact prime tiger habitats with an ideal prey base and absence of
anthropogenic stressors have been responsible for supporting good tiger
densities in certain landscapes over the others. Two such large contiguous tiger
reserve blocks are identified, which together is home to 45 per cent of the
country’s tigers. They are the Western Ghats landscape (Nagarhole-
Bandipur- Wayanad- Mudumalai-Satyamangalam - BRT block having 724 tigers) and
Uttrakhand and western Uttar Pradesh landscape (Rajaji- Corbett- Ramnagar- Pilibhit-
Dudhwa block with 604 tigers)
What else contributes to potential increase in tiger numbers?
Reproductive
biology favours the tiger species with a comparative fecundity advantage,
leading possibly to higher recruitment of young ones into the wild. With the
higher female: male sex ratio in the wild (ranging between 2:1 and 5:1) and
with the female reaching sexual maturity at three to four years and male
attaining that state in 4.8 years and given the inter-birth interval of less
than 20 months in prime habitats (this can be as short as eight months when the
previous litter is lost) and a large litter size ranging from 3-4 cubs,
addition to the population size in temporal scale is significant.
Limits to growth
However, many limitations operate in
nature as a population regulatory mechanism. Relatively shorter life span of
tigers in the wild ranging between 8 and 15 years and extreme vulnerability of
the cubs contributing up to 50 per cent mortality owing to disease,
starvation, predation
and attack by male tigers tend to balance the population in the wild.
In addition, many location-specific, human-induced
reasons contribute to the decline of tiger numbers. 2019 All-India Tiger
Population Estimation Report reveals that over a third of India’s wild tiger
population (35 per cent to be precise) resides in the forest blocks neighboring
but outside the country’s 50 tiger reserves, which include forest divisions, and
wildlife sanctuaries. During the 2018 survey, the tiger occupancy area was
assessed at 88,985 sq.km., significant chunk of which is located outside tiger
reserves. Not the entire extent of a given tiger reserve or the abutting forest
division is used by the tigers inhabiting the reserve, as revealed from the
estimation of tiger abundance. The tigers living outside tiger reserve
boundaries are reported as ‘tigers utilizing tiger reserves’ in order to
distinguish them from ‘tigers within the tiger reserve’.
We saw that the NTCA regularly assesses causes of
the tiger mortality. While, wildlife managers have limited option to control deaths
due to natural causes, significant improvement in containing unnatural deaths
can be achieved by putting in place sound protection and management practices. Besides
intentional poaching, non-poaching but unnatural deaths occur due to human
activities, where human-tiger conflict is of significance.
Poaching continues to be one of the chief reasons
for the fall in tiger numbers. Its intensity, coupled with the lackadaisical
response from the reserve managers have shown that if uncontrolled, poaching could
wipe out the entire population from a reserve. Sariska in Rajasthan and Palamu
in Jharkhand are vivid cases in hand. Unfortunately, the poaching pressure
couldn’t be effectively checked for long to the extent of laying hand on the organized
gangs and trade chains in the clandestine trade of tiger products. Other than
rarely apprehending the poachers at the site of occurrence, their prosecution
many times doesn’t end in conviction of the accused. Even when significant
seizures of tiger body parts are made, the incidents are not taken to the
logical end in busting the international gangs involved. Establishment of Wildlife
Crime Control Bureau and coordinated action between few of the wildlife
Non-Government Organizations and the law enforcement agencies in the matter of
dealing with the wildlife trade are aiding in this sphere to some extent.
In
this regard, reiteration of location of tiger mortality is of some relevance. During 2021, 63 deaths were reported from inside the tiger
reserves (TRs), the balance 64 was recorded in forest areas outside the TRs.
Against one third of the tigers that live in the non TR areas, nearly 50 per
cent of the deaths happen in those areas. Thus, death of tigers is disproportionate
to the overall tiger numbers in such areas. Does this suggest that conservation
and management of tigers draw relatively lesser attention in non-TR forest
areas, as compared to the TRs proper? While the TRs represent comparatively
less violate core and buffer zones, forest areas of other forest divisions and
wildlife sanctuaries are punctuated by human habitations, thus making the
movement of tigers from one area to the other without encountering difficulty
and by increasing the chances of conflict. This is a point to ponder.
Among the man-made causes with no intention of
poaching tiger body parts, revenge killing by poisoning the domestic animal
carcass hunted by a tiger and accidental death of a non-target species such as
tiger by electrocution stand out significantly. Usually high voltage illegal
electric fences are set along farm boundaries close to the forests to keep off
herbivorous wild animals, to which tigers occasionally fall prey. Promptly
compensating the economic loss sustained by a villager by disbursal of matching
ex-gratia amount for the loss of properties due to human-animal conflict
situation will be of avail.
Conclusions
States must lay as much emphasis on tiger conservation
in non Tiger Reserve forest areas as in the Tiger Reserve areas.
Anti poaching efforts have been intensified with standard
operating norms in the tiger reserves, which is somewhat trailing in the tiger
inhabiting non-TR forest divisions across the nation. Strengthening the anti
poaching network in such areas can’t brook any delay.
Tiger crime detection, investigation and
prosecution are to be taken to higher professional levels so as to improve the
conviction rates, that will serve as a deterrent.
Many forest villages continue to exist in some
core areas and many buffer areas, thus challenging the integrity of the tiger
habitats. The states would render the tiger conservation more meaningful by pursuing
workable relocation packages for which many notable examples exist in the
country.
Conflict resolution and mitigation strategies
involving tigers are to be taken high on the conservation agenda, by dissuading
the farmers from erecting illegal conflict mitigation measures and from launching
revenge killings.
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