‘Cap tiger numbers at 4k, don’t make them a pest’

With India’s Project Tiger getting international attention for not just increasing the number of big cats in the wild but also being a key tool in accomplishing the country’s climate change mitigation targets, Rajesh Gopal, secretary general of Global Tiger Forum, the only inter-governmental body working exclusively for conservation of tigers in the wild, speaks on various issues, including the ideal number of tigers. Excerpts: What, according to you, is the biggest takeaway, beyond the rising number of big cats, from India’s 50 years of Project Tiger? Tiger, as an ecological umbrella species, is a great indicator of ecosystem services: Adaptation to climate change (carbon sequestration in tiger forests), livelihood (around 50 lakh man-days are generated annually for local workforce in tiger reserves), ecosystem revival and pandemic buffering (dilution effect of tiger forests). So, a sustainable tiger population means all such gains. How can Project Tiger help other tiger range countries? Can translocation of tigers from India to countries like Cambodia and others, where the big cats have gone extinct, happen smoothly? Is it desirable? The good practices under Project Tiger, based on India’s track record on the tiger front, can help other tiger range countries strengthen their tiger efforts. The scale, magnitude, diversity and human interface intensity in tiger conservation in India are unmatched. Several actions are useful for others. India has already formalised its engagement with Cambodia for tiger revival there, including translocation. This effort is very important for the South-East Asian region.Medium108408714 What should be the ideal number of tigers in India, considering the carrying capacity of the habitats? We are nearing the inherent ecological carrying capacity in the context of tigers. Even if we actively pack our tiger reserves (approximately 2.4% of our country’s geographical area) we can’t go beyond 4,000. We need sustainable tiger populations with viable tiger porosity between tiger source areas and not a boosted reproductive surplus making the tiger a ‘pest’ in the human-wildlife interface. I pity people who advocate 10,000 or more tigers for their lack of understanding about ground reality and landscape transformations. Does India have a robust mechanism to deal with the human-tiger conflicts, keeping in view the big cats’ rising numbers and shrinking habitats due to development pressure? Yes, the philosophy and strategy of Project Tiger are mutually complementary ‘exclusive-inclusive’ agendas — the former in core and the latter is in buffer and beyond at a scale, inclusive of corridors. Reserve-specific tiger conservation plans focus on this theme with preventive and control measures like day-to-day monitoring, kill monitoring, tallying with camera trap repositories for ascertaining IDs of problem animals, deployment of Rapid Response Teams and timely compensating depredations. Human-wildlife interface management is overarching for a tiger field formation. Development or any related land use can factor in tiger concerns in their actions. This calls for a mutually gainful, ecologically sustainable quid pro quo with all stakeholders in a tiger landscape. This is being further strengthened under Project Tiger. We have past instances where the state governments had to issue ‘shoot at sight’ orders to eliminate tigers. Under what circumstances is such an order issued? This is required for an aberrant, conditioned animal harming humans, based on provisions in our legislation. The standard operating procedures (SOPs) of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) deal with this at length. The first option is capture of course, and elimination is the last resort. Able, young aberrants without physical deformities are rewilded as well. How can this kind (elimination of tigers) of situation be avoided? A 24x7 surveillance of human-wildlife interface linked to a control room based on gainful community stewardship (with capacity building), using technology for preventive and control measures (in sync with forest resource dependency calendar of locals), a vibrant landscape approach for engaging with all stakeholders monitored by the state-level steering committee (provision for this exists in Wildlife Protection Act), regulation of agriculture/ cash crop cover (alternative sowing and harvesting with incentives to farmers) and related actions can go a long way in preventing tigers, leopards, elephants and other wildlife from becoming pests causing distress to people.Medium108408715 Everything about the tiger is truly magical: Sandeep Patil My love for wildlife started when I was at Patilwadi, Shivaji Park. I was very young. In those days… I’m talking about the late 50s and early 60s… we had a lot of open spaces in Bombay (now Mumbai). From my place to the Shree Siddhivinayak Temple, there was only jungle. I was mesmerised by the movie Tarzan, and his gang of animals. I used to consider myself Tarzan and all the stray dogs in our area as my friends! So, my love for wildlife did not start with a tiger or a lion, but stray dogs. At my farmhouse, I had eight Labradors. I have adopted a leopard called Tara in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.When you talk about a tiger, what comes to your mind is its strength, ferociousness, and that royal look. That is why it’s called the Royal Bengal Tiger! The sight of a tiger is different from that of all the other animals, including a lion. Its grace, its walk, everything about it is truly magical! It leaves you mesmerised. No wonder then it’s the national animal of India.You’ve got to have a keeda (passion) to spend hours and hours watching a tiger. In 1979, before I actually started playing for India, I went to London for the first time, thanks to the late Raj Singh Dungarpur, who got me a club to play for there. In London, every day, I used to just go and sit in front of the tiger’s cage in the London zoo. I used to have only 2 pounds to save during the day, but I used it on travelling to the zoo, and on a can of coke, which used to be my food for the day! I used to just watch the tiger walk!I’ve been to the famous Maasai Mara national game reserve in Kenya 24 times — that’s more than even the local Kenyans! I used to patrol it like I patrol Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai at night!In the 66 years of my life, I have visited innumerable national parks and game reserves in India and Africa, but I’ve especially enjoyed looking for tigers in India. The game reserves in Kenya and South Africa don’t have tigers, they have lions. They have tigers only in the cage. However, India is known as the tiger’s country. India gives you a chance to see a tiger in all its glory.I’ve encountered so many tiger sightings at the Tadoba National Park. Recently, I was at the Kanha and Bandhavgarh national parks (in Madhya Pradesh). I’ve spotted tigers every time I’ve gone to a national park!Sunil Limaye, who’s the chief of the Western Wildlife Region, is a very dear friend. He used to accompany me a lot on these wildlife tours. I’ve spent a lot of time with famous wildlife filmmaker Nalla Muthu, hearing his stories about the tiger, about the ‘Queen of Tadoba’ Maya! So, it’s not just about me being interested in watching the tiger. I like to read about the history of every tiger in Tadoba or whichever National Park I’m visiting. I like to learn about its habitat, movement, family, whether it has fought with someone, or killed someone! I’m aware that last year, Maya killed a forest guard (Swati Dhumane) in Tadoba.The best thing is that, for the last 11 years, we have run a cricket tournament for Under-17 and U-15 boys in Bengaluru called the Tiger Cup, to aid those who are helping in the conservation of the forests. Every year, we donate Rs 5 lakh — Rs 1 lakh each to a safari driver, an NGO, or a forest guard. It was the brainchild of a sports journalist called Joseph Hoover. We all need to conserve and protect tigers.(Sandeep Patil is a former India batsman. He spoke to Gaurav Gupta)