Poaching in Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR)
Source : India Today
GS II : Environment
Overview
- News Brief
- Indian Tigers
- How tiger population estimated?
- Reasons for falling number of tigers
- Poaching In India
- What is St. Petersberg Declaration on Tiger Conservation?
- Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR)
Why in News ?
An adult tiger was killed in Satpura Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh allegedly by poachers who carried away its head
- The decomposed headless carcass was found in the core area of the reserve.
News Brief
- The body parts have been sent for forensic examination and the probe into the incident would cover all angles.
- Department were not suspecting a big gang behind the tiger’s death.
- If professional poachers were behind the killing they would have taken away all the body parts.
- Some people believe the use of tiger parts in witchcraft can help bring prosperity.
- As per wildlife experts, around Rs 5 lakh is spent annually on monitoring and protecting a tiger in the country.
Indian Tigers
- About 3,000 wild tigers now survive compared with 100,000 at the turn of the 20th century.
- A little over 1,800 people were believed to make up the population in the first nationwide tiger census, which was done in 1972.
- This worrisome decline in tiger population is concerning.
- Project Tiger was started at the Palamau Tiger Reserve in 1973
- India has 441 sanctuaries and more than 75 national parks, some of which have been designated as tiger reserves.
- The Project Tiger set the rules for tiger reserves.
- It is a Ministry of Environment and Forests Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
- The National Tiger Conservation Authority is in charge of running it.
- Tigers represent an Umbrella Species that indicate the health of the ecosystem.
- In the IUCN red list, Tigers are listed in the category of endangered species.
What is an Umbrella Species?
An umbrella species is one whose protection is projected to cover a sizable number of naturally coexisting species. Umbrella species tend to migrate and need a large habitat.
How tiger population estimated?
- Tiger censuses are conducted to determine the number of tigers present in a specific location, undertaken on a regular basis.
- The approach aids in gathering data on the density of tiger populations and related prey in addition to determining the number of tigers.
- Initial days Pugmark Census Technique was most frequently utilised where pugmark impressions were captured for identification.
- These days, it is frequently employed as one of the indicators of the presence and relative abundance of tigers.
- Recent techniques for estimating the number of tigers include DNA fingerprinting and camera trapping.
Reasons for falling number of tigers
- Climate Change: For instance, in Sundarbans region rising sea levels and higher salt levels are killing the region’s Sundri trees, thus shrinking the tigers’ habitat.
- Development: Large-scale development projects like dams, industries, mines, railway lines, etc. cause pressure on habitat, habitat fragmentation, and habitat loss.
- Poaching: The killing of tigers for their body parts to be utilised in traditional Chinese medicine is known as ongoing poaching.
- Invasive species: obliterate the regional farmers.
- Changes in food chain: As the top of the food chain, tigers are most severely affected. The majority of tiger parks have lost their prey populations due to local poaching, forcing the tigers to go outside in search of food and are more easily killed.
- Human-tiger conflict: Their natural habitats are already shrinking and hence, they are seeking their habitat in the human habitation.
Poaching In India
- Skin and Bones: Tiger trafficking analysis from January 2000 to June 2022,” showed a total of 3,330 tigers were illegally confiscated globally during this timeframe.
- Along with claws and fangs, tiger skin is the portion of the animal that is most in demand.
- According to the research, 42% of the claws and teeth and 38% of the tiger skins collected worldwide were found in India.
- In recent days poachers are also looking for innovative ways to hunt down tigers.
Effort to stop poaching
- The International Tiger Day celebrated on 29th july is an annual event marked to raise awareness about tiger conservation.
- According to the Tiger Census Report, 2019, the Tiger population has substantially increased from 2,226 in 2014 to around 2,967 in 2019.
- Project Tiger
- In order to give central support to the tiger States for tiger conservation in designated tiger reserves in India, the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change established Project Tiger in 1973.
- National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)
- Formed by the recommendation of the Tiger Task Force.
- The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) oversees the Project Tiger.
- It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: It was constituted under enabling provisions of the act, as amended in 2006, for strengthening tiger conservation, as per powers and functions assigned to National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
What is St. Petersberg Declaration on Tiger Conservation?
- At an international tiger forum held in St. Petersburg, Russia, in November 2010, the presidents of 13 nations with tigers as their national animals approved this resolution.
- It sought to spread awareness about the protection of white tigers and advance a global framework to safeguard tigers’ natural habitats.
- The Global Tiger Recovery Programme, which was created to carry out the resolution.
- Its main objective to increase the population of wild tigers from 3,200 to more than 7,000 by the year 2022.
- Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam are the 13 nations that make up the Tiger Range Countries.
Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR)
- It is situated in Madhya Pradesh’s Hoshangabad district.
- It is situated in the Central Indian Landscape’s Satpura mountains.
- It is located south of the Narmada River.
- Between the Narmada and Tapti Rivers, Satpura—which literally translates to “Seven Folds”—forms a watershed.
- It is connected to Pench National Park by a corridor.
- The habitat has more than 50 rock shelters that range in age from around 1500 to 10,000 years old, making it a significant example of how humans have evolved.
- The Deccan trap series, Gondwanas, and metamorphic rocks are examples of geological formations.
- Tropical riparian fringing forest, southern tropical thorn forest, central Indian sun tropical hill forest, dry and moist grassland, southern tropical moist deciduous forest, southern tropical dry deciduous woodland, and tropical riparian thorn forest.
- A number of Central Indian Highlands-specific plants may be found there.
- These include teak, bamboo, Indian gooseberry, several acacias, wild mango, and satinwood, among others.
- There are 26 species in the Himalayan region and 42 in the Nilgiri regions.
- As a result, STR is sometimes referred to as the northernmost point of the Western Ghats.
- Along with other iconic species like co-predators, birds, reptiles, and fish, the tiger includes other mammals like the gaur, sambhar, and chital.
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