Monday, 9 April 2012

Over 400 Tigers Lost in 10 Years

Jake Richardson
April 9, 2012 2:02 pm



Madhya Pradesh is the second largest state in India by area and has over 70 million human residents. It also is home to many forests and has nine national parks. Within these habitats are a declining number  of wild tigers. From 2001 to 2011 about 453 of them died. A tiger reserve in the state reportedly lost all its tigers.

At one time there were 35-40, but poaching wiped out the whole population. There is speculation poachers in Madya Pradesh have connections with international mafia, who have the capability of illegal animal parts trafficking. Additionally, some of the conservation officials might also be colluding with poachers to take down tigers and then secretly ship them to international buyers.

It would be reasonable to expect a number of arrests and convictions to have been made in conjunction with the losses of many wild tigers. However, in the ten year period only two poacher convictions were handed down. Each conviction resulted in a three year prison sentence and a fine of 10,000 rupees, or about 500 US dollars.

453 tigers were lost, with only two convictions. 453 is almost half of the number of wild tigers lost around the world in the last ten years. So nearly  half of the tiger losses globally for that decade were from one state in India. In about the same period, 1,000 tiger body parts were confiscated by authorities to prevent them from being sold illegally. Superstitious beliefs continue to fuel demand for such body parts to be made into decorations, luck charms and concoctions which some say have medicinal value, though there is no proof. The main demand for illegal animal body parts is coming from Asia.

It is stating the obvious, but if one cares about tigers or other wild animals, purchasing products containing their body parts should never acceptable. Also, refusing to travel to and within countries with poaching problems might begin to apply pressure for positive change.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/over-400-tigers-lost-in-10-years.html

2 comments:

  1. The literacy percentage of the state is very low.So,creating awareness about the wildlife to them is not that easy. This could be one of the reason for this incident

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  2. Not to forget poverty, poaching and the high demand for tiger parts in China.

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