Save endangered tigers in India

The tiger is the national animal of India, yet despite the many measures that have been put in place to protect this rare and beautiful animal, it is now perilously close to extinction.

Although the current slogan is “only 1400 tigers left in India” it has been reported that this figure is actually much lower and as few as 800-900 tigers are now surviving in the wild. What has led to this shameful state of affairs and what can we do to change things? Strangely part of the answer lies in tourism and by choosing a wildlife holiday in India you can help make a difference.

Steps:

1. Visit the parks which specialize in featuring tigers for tourists to view. By doing this, you add revenue to continue maintaining the sanctuaries and feeding the tigers. Take a wildlife tour of India. Seeing a tiger in the wild is one of the most amazing and rewarding experiences you can ever have and if you choose the right travel company, your holiday can actually help save the tiger from extinction. There is a huge choice of wildlife packages to India offering safaris in India’s National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries but choose carefully and find a tour company that actively supports tiger conservation. Such tour operators in India work closely with local support groups and if you choose the right wildlife package to India, you will find that the local people will also benefit directly, as only local services and guides are employed. By continued education from the support groups, and by proving that living in harmony with the tiger will actually bring much needed prosperity to local people, your holiday of a lifetime can help save India’s remaining tigers

2. Send donations to places that care for and protect tigers in India. The money will be used to ensure that tigers are looked after and can be kept in areas where there would otherwise be population encroachment.

3. Support organizations that care for the education, health, and welfare of Indian children. Poverty is a major cause of people taking the land tigers need to live on, as people try to farm and use the land space to survive. The problems the tiger faces are those of ignorance and poverty - the people living in the surrounding villages are living hand to mouth and obviously must protect their livelihood however they can, and the temptation to make money by supplying tigers to the black market is easily understood when you consider the struggle these people have in simply surviving from day to day. Education helps to break the cycle of poverty by giving Indian children a chance to get employment in fields that pay adequate living salaries. Moreover, education helps local people learn about the importance of conserving wildlife in their area and to find the means for doing so without having injury to either people or tigers.

Tips:

• There are two main reasons for the demise of the tiger in India. One is loss of habitat and the conflict that occurs when humans and wildlife are forced to live in close proximity. The local villagers need grazing and firewood to survive while the tiger needs vast uninhabited areas for its survival. Secondly, tiger skins and body parts fetch huge sums of money in countries such as China so poaching is a risky but lucrative way of life that the authorities seem completely unable to combat
• The other threat to tigers is poaching as there is a huge demand in the East for illegal body parts – tigers are killed to supply this lucrative black market with bones, pelt and organs – even the tiger penis is considered an aphrodisiac when made into a soup. Huge sums are paid for tigers so, despite armed guards within the sanctuaries, people are prepared risk their lives in order to kill these majestic animals.
• Now in 2010 it is widely believed that there are probably as few as 800 tigers surviving in India and the World Wildlife Fund has listed this magnificent animal as one of the 10 key creatures facing imminent extinction. This shocking figure is in spite of many initiatives from the Indian government, starting in 1973 with the launch of Project Tiger campaign. The tiger is a beautiful, charismatic species and the national animal of India but as a top predator, it also plays a crucial role in the health and diversity of a unique ecosystem, maintaining the balance between its prey and the vegetation that it feeds on – without the tiger much of India’s wonderful wildlife and beautiful forests will no longer exist.
• Specialist tour companies that always use local guides and resources that support local initiatives, and that work with local NGOs in educating villagers, are vital to helping improve the understanding that the tiger is a valuable resource that will bring locals a long-term benefit rather and that tigers are not a threat to their own existence. With a responsible tour operator, it is possible to have the holiday of a lifetime while helping the conservation of one of the world’s most endangered species. The more people that choose to go on a tiger safari in India, the more chance the Bengal tiger has of survival.

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                                                                                                                                          ABHIJIT.