Still threatened

It might be worth the NTCA’s while to study how the problem was said to have been addressed in Gujarat ~ there too an increased population had resulted in the lions spreading beyond the protected zones.

Editorial | New Delhi | May 9, 2019 12:27 am

It might be worth the NTCA’s while to study how the problem was said to have been addressed in Gujarat ~ there too an increased population had resulted in the lions spreading beyond the protected zones.

Editorial | New Delhi | May 9, 2019 12:27 am

Poachers have also been active since the sale of body parts to China remains as lucrative as ever. (Representational Image: iStock)

Five years ago a collective sigh of relief was breathed when a census put the number of tigers in the wild at 2,226 ~ it had dwindled to a three-figure level a little earlier.
land is running out. The malaise is nation-wide: with 148 deaths Madhya Pradesh topped the unhappy list, followed by Maharashtra (107), Karnataka (100) and Uttarakhand (82).

Even the death roll in the current year is headed by those two states. Poachers have also been active since the sale of body parts to China remains as lucrative as ever. Rail and road accidents are other factors too, but electrified fencing remains the “number one enemy”.
It might be worth the NTCA’s while to study how the problem was said to have been addressed in Gujarat ~ there too an increased population had resulted in the lions spreading beyond the protected zones. Yet, what works in one region need not necessarily work in another, “local expertise” needs to be tapped.
The key to all conservation lies in the priority it receives from the Central government down to the local forest management staff. While in the last few years a number of grandiose schemes have been announced, the protection of flora and fauna have hardly been mentioned. Even the cleansing of rivers has failed to attain targets: the ministry for environment and forests simply muddles along.
Even Maneka Gandhi has opted to play a token role. The government is so focused on “nationalism” (which translates into giving Pakistan a bloody nose) that the unique riches of the Indian jungle are consistently overlooked. The jungle is sorely in need of an energetic minister for environment and forest ~ regardless of his/her party\ affiliation.

https://www.thestatesman.com/opinion/still-threatened-1502753312.html