New Delhi - An Indian task force said on Friday that the country's tigers were under siege from poachers and people living in protected reserves, and called for thousands of villagers to be relocated to save the endangered big cat.
There was national shock after reports in March that the population of 16 to 18 tigers at a leading sanctuary in western India could be wiped out by poachers within a year, and that the risks were similar at other reserves.
Responding to the outcry, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up the tiger task force, headed by well-known environmentalist Sunita Narain who submitted the body's report to him on Friday.
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"The tiger is under attack from poachers, miners and other exploitative activity," the report said. "Worse, it is also under siege from people who co-inhabit its land. The challenge is to ensure that the siege is lifted."
| 'It is also under siege from people who co-inhabit its land' |
The task force called for relocation of thousands of people living in 250 villages located inside India's 28 tiger reserves.
"What is suggested is a time-bound programme to identify those villages which must be relocated because they are located in crucial tiger habitats," Narain said in the report.
She added that there were another 1 250 villages in non-core areas of the reserves and it would be impossible to relocate the people living in those hamlets.
"In this case, the country has no choice but to make peace with the communities that share the tiger's home," Narain said, calling for their involvement in forest reserve tourism. "If not, we will lose the war of conservation, tiger by tiger."
India's tiger population has fallen to about 3 700 from roughly 40 000 a century ago, mainly due to rampant poaching.
But conservationists suspect the number could be less than 2 000.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Singh said the head of the government had agreed to create a federal wildlife crime bureau, as suggested by the five-member task force.
The task force said India would have to work with China to stop huge illegal trade in tiger body parts. Tiger organs, teeth, bones and penises are used in traditional Chinese medicine.
The task force report also slammed a "faulty and fudged system" to count tigers at Sariska that showed a growth in the big cat population while tigers were in reality disappearing.
India's conviction rate of those charged with poaching of endangered animals is less than five percent, with many accused of poaching getting off due to lack of evidence.
In May, the government said poachers had killed at least 114 tigers between 1999 and 2003, while just 59 of the big cats had died of natural causes during the same period.
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