THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 31 JULY 2019 (Burning bright: on India’s tiger census (The Hindu))

Burning bright: on India’s tiger census (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Environment
Prelims level : India’s tiger census
Mains level : Environment impact assessment, Conservations

Context

• If India has increased its population of tigers to an estimated 2,967 individuals in 2018-19, putting behind fiascos such as the Sariska wipeout 15 years ago.
• It adds to its global standing as a conservation marvel: a populous country that has preserved a lot of its natural heritage even amid fast-paced economic growth.

Background

• Since the majority of the world’s wild tigers live in India, there is global attention on the counting exercise and the gaps the assessment exposes.
• The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has asserted in its report, ‘Status of Tigers in India 2018’, that 83% of the big cats censused were individually photographed using camera traps, 87% were confirmed through a camera trap-based capture-recapture technique, and other estimation methods were used to establish the total number.
• Previous estimates for periods between 2006 and 2010 and then up to 2014 indicated a steady increase in tiger abundance.

Tussle regarding the numbers

• Such numbers, however, are the subject of debate among sections of the scientific community, mainly on methodological grounds, since independent studies of even well-protected reserves showed a lower increase.
• It is important to put all the latest data, which are no doubt encouraging, through rigorous peer review.
• Conservation achievements — and some failures — can then be the subject of scientific scrutiny and find a place in scientific literature to aid efforts to save tigers.

About present time situation

• There are several aspects to the latest counting operation — a staggering exercise spread over 3,81,400 sq km and 26,838 camera trap locations — that are of international interest, because some tiger range countries are beginning their own census of the cats.
• Moreover, even developed countries are trying to revive populations of charismatic wild creatures such as wolves and bears through a more accurate outcome measurement.
• For India’s tigers, not every landscape is welcoming, as the official report makes clear.

Divergences in population

• The less accessible Western Ghats has witnessed a steady increase in numbers from 2006, notably in Karnataka, and Central India has an abundance, but there is a marked drop in Chhattisgarh and Odisha; in Buxa, Dampa and Palamau, which are tiger reserves, no trace of the animal was found.
• It is imperative for the NTCA to analyse why some landscapes have lost tigers, when the entire programme has been receiving high priority and funding for years now at ₹10 lakh per family that is ready to move out of critical habitat.

Conclusion

• Ultimately, saving tigers depends most on the health of source populations of the species that are estimated to occupy a mere 10% of the habitat.
• The conflict in opening up reserves to road-building has to end, and identified movement corridors should be cleared of commercial pressures.
• Hunting of prey animals, such as deer and pig, needs to stop as they form the base for growth of tiger and other carnivore populations.
• As some scientists caution, faulty numbers may hide the real story.
• They may only represent a ‘political population’ of a favoured animal, not quite reflective of reality.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) With reference to the World Hindu Economic Forum (HEF), consider the following statements:
1. Recently it has launched its Nepal Chapter to increase economic cooperation between India and Nepal and to connect Nepal with a global network for its economic prosperity.
2. It is a specialized agency of World Economic Forum.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
A. 1 only
B. 2 only
C. Both
D. None

Answer: A
Mains Questions:
Q.1) Peer review and scientific publication can make India’s tiger census a global model. Comment.