BLOOD ON OUR HANDS

Just over a decade ago, Project Tiger was hailed as the success story for the preservation of not just the big cats but also all other wildlife. When the project was launched in 1973, the tiger population in the wilds had dropped to an alarming figure of just 1,800 as compared to the estimates of 40,000 before Independence. Apart from passing a stringent law banning the hunting of tigers, nine wildlife reserves were established. A scientific management plan saw, among other things, core areas, free of all human activity, being earmarked in each sanctuary.Regular patrolling by forest guards dissuaded poachers. Most important was the level of political commitment, with the late prime minister Indira Gandhi personally taking interest and even hauling up Forest Department officials for non-performance. More tiger reserves were soon established and today there are 27 of them in the prime forests of India. Tiger population in such reserves has grown from 268 when the project began to over 1500 now. The overall tiger population in the wilds is put at 3,500.

Now all this is being undone rapidly. Last year, the missing tigers of Sariska and Corbett National Park are an ominous signal that things are going terribly wrong in our wildlife preserves. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rightly termed it as the "the biggest crisis in the management of our wildlife."

Political commitment at all levels is the key and any revamp must begin from the top. Like Indira, the Prime Minister should make preserving wildlife his personal mission. Also as wildlife conservationist Ullas Karanth says,"What needs to change is the self-denial approach by ministry and forest officials who continue to maintain that nothing is wrong."

The prime minister and Minister of Environment and Forest should call for a total review of all wildlife preserves on an urgent basis and take remedial measures. If we don't do this soon enough the roar of the tiger in Indian forests may echo only in Kipling's books.