TIGERS on the Verge Of Extinction...

During the start of the 20th century, India had the largest population of tigers, their numbers counting to above 40,000. But, slowly because of the rampant poarching activities and the destruction of their natural habitat, the world witnessed their numbers falling to a shocking jus over 4,000. It was very disheartening to see that the country which had declared "TIGER" as its "National Animal" was instrumental in the shrinkage of this wilderness.

Under the reign of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, in the year 1972, the first ever tiger census was carried out and their count was a staggeringly low about 1,800 odd. Then, she took the initiative and started a programme called "PROJECT TIGER" in the year 1973-74. Under this project, 18 conservation forest reserves were to be set up and they were to be maintained in a "core-buffer" strategy. The result was an encouraging sign showing an increase in the count of tigers by two times. Now, there numbers counted to 3,773 in the next few years. But, soon after the era of Indira was over, the programme was no longer effective as it was earlier. The present members of the programme then, were in no way related to the knowings of the wild life. They were just mere political leaders who would speak out something embarrassing without much analysis and thought. The result was a no shock as the tigers numbers shot down again. The tigers were on the verge of depletion at a rate never before. There were few people by names Valmiki and Raghu, to name a few, who were carrying out scientific studies on the life of these tigers for the past few decades.

Valmiki was a nature lover and a strong supporter of the tigers. He first saw this amazing creature in the Ranthambore Tiger Conservation Reserve and then, fell in love with it. According to his knowledge, there were around 42 tigers in Ranthambore alone. Initially, during the starting days of the project, the tigers were shy to come out during the day times. Slowly, the people living within and in nearby areas of the Reserve were eradicated. The tigers soon started to believe that it was their habitat now and also seen shortly were the scenes of tigers hunting down their prey in water.

Meanwhile, there was another person called Raghu was carrying out the duties at the Panna National Reserve. According to his calculations, there were about 11 adult tigers, fully grown and healthy, in that reserve. Apart from those, there were few dozens of tiger cubs being nurtured by their mothers. It was very heartening to see these numbers, but the bad was yet to hit.

This Project Tiger suffered a serious blow soon after the era of Mrs. Indira Gandhi had come to an end. The newly appointed officials were not just indifferent, but also irrelavent, irresponsible and not eligible. They knew nothing about the habitats of these wild cats, neither their livings nor their requirements. They were just to derive the benefits out of this project. It was this motivation and acute short-mindedness of the officials which again saw the numbers of tigers decreasing.

Protestors like Valmiki and Raghu, had put before the officials the decreasing numbers of the tigers but the officials had a different thing to say. The numbers that these officials had put up before the government were just in contrary to what Raghu and Valmiki had to say. Once, the officials said that there were about 4 thousand tigers but to the knowledge of Raghu and Valmiki, they were less than 1200 in number. These protestors had been talking on these matters with the higher authorities but all their studies and researches went in vain. The officials were not just ready to not to listen to these people but also they were considering these people as a burden to their jobs. Soon, the orders were passed on to Raghu to leave the Reserve and he was also warned that if they see him again wandering near the Reserve, he would be put behind bars.

Meanwhile, Valmiki had become a major political leader. He wanted to make use of his post to advocate to the nation to stop killing of these animals. After a gap of six months, Raghu was again called on to the Reserve again. But, now what Raghu sees is heart rupturing. Out of 11 tigers, 9 tigers were missing. The tigers which were grown to full and could have easily given birth to few more in the next year or two, went missing. Also, were missing 21 small cubs. This insane poarching wrenched these protestor's hearts.

In another tragic incident, in another forest reserve Sariska, there were 16 tigers at first. Officials stated that their numbers had increased, but since, September 2004, locals stated that they had not seen any glimpse of any tiger. Earlier, officials adopted footprints method to count their number and as said it was not a correct method. Their counts were misleading. There were about 300 personnel put on guard just to prohibit trespassing. Though they were old, unskilled men but they could have well stopped a dozen of poarchers who eradicated Sariska of its beauty. Now, Sariska is just a graveyard. When asked, one poarcher himself admitted that he had been among 25 killings missions. He told the policemen dat those who were put on guard weren't available on time and also, were absent during rainy seasons. The malfunctioning of the wireless also paved way as an additional sting to the poarchers. It gave these poarchers time to hunt down the tigers. Every fourth or fifth day, they went out on hunt and the reason is there for everyone to see.

The whole decade of 90's went on just like that nothing much happening for the growth of the number of tigers. The protests were on, people started getting aware but still no response from the government. The officials still took to false footprints methods which kind of preventing the officials to see the bitter truth or was it that those officials weren't ready to speak the truth. Well, until late in mid of 2000's, this case was handed over to the CBI. According to the investigations, they had to say the following:
1. The numbers put up by the officials all these years were highly exaggerated
2. The countings methods taken up were not falseproof and very misleading
3. Not a single tiger seen at the Sariska from September 2004

These reports were shocking. CBI couldn't do much other than just report. Even if the officials didn't learn their lessons til now, it was sure that these results would raise the curtains from the officials eyes. When the CBI and policemen were looking for the trader who was trading out the animals, he was caught at Delhi. Along with him, many others were caught, but the hunt is still on. About three quintols of bones were seized from the poarchers and many clothes too. A lady (don't clearly remember the name) was so interested in her research activities she was carrying out that she went out to the Delhi local market in disguise looking out for tiger's skin. Everywhere she heard just one name, that one name broke out in every nook and corner of the country and that person is the same one whose arrestment has been spoken off in the earlier paragraph.

Thus, the failure of the "Project Tiger" was bearing no fruitful results and as expected, soon gave its way to yet an another project NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) in the year 2006. But, the roots of this project were not as strong as were those of the "Project Tiger" and the officials are also mere political leaders who just speak blah blah blah but do nothing. In these stringest of constraints and the time when India is seen to be fast growing as one of the world's biggest economies, the life of the tigers is at a much higher risk.

"Let's Together Stop Killing of Tigers, Restrict the Poarchers and Stop Buying Products Made of Tiger's Skin, Bones, etc."