Top Panel





Home :: News :: 23082009
India Takes on China Re: Tiger Poaching



THE STRAIT TIMES
Ravi Vellor, South Asia Bureau Chief, 22nd August, 2009

Talks of tiger poaching
India's minister set to raise issue of demand for tiger parts during China visit

NEW DELHI - INDIA'S feisty environment minister says he intends to tackle at source the reason his country's efforts to protect the tiger are failing - China's demand for tiger parts that fuels poaching of the big cats.
'I think we have a good enough, mature relationship with the Chinese to tell them that while we are doing our best to curb poaching, you cannot be oblivious to the fact that demand for tiger parts is the real reason for this,' said Mr Jairam Ramesh, whose ministry oversees the environment and forests.

The 55-year-old Mr Ramesh, influential as a speechwriter and political strategist to Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, is visiting China next week for four days for discussions on environmental issues.

Top of the Indian Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon-educated engineer's agenda is to work with China on evolving a common stand on climate change and joint studies on monitoring the receding Himalayan glaciers. The two Asian giants will also discuss ways to cooperate in forestry.
But Mr Ramesh's determination to bring up the issue of poaching underscores his alarm at the dwindling population in India of the Royal Bengal tiger.
Demand for tiger penis, teeth, claws and other parts from China and elsewhere in East Asia - where these are associated with aphrodisiacal qualities - has fuelled a lucrative trade in poaching. The animal parts typically are sent overland to Nepal or Bangladesh, from where they are shipped out.
India had more than 40,000 of the majestic beasts 100 years ago and tiger hunts were a popular pastime of the erstwhile royals and feudals. By 1973, the tiger population had dwindled to about 1,800 animals.

Project Tiger, launched in 1973 when the late Indira Gandhi was ruling the country, won worldwide acclaim as a conservation success, helping to double the tiger population to about 3,500 by the mid-1990s.

Since then, however, the programme has suffered a setback. Today, India is believed to have fewer than 1,300 tigers in the wild.
The non-governmental organisation Wildlife Protection Society of India estimates that India has lost 66 tigers since the year began, of which 23 were killed by poachers.

newslink



 

 

  Untitled Document
 Search:







TIGER NEWS



Two tigers die of poisoning in Gudalur, 21st Aug., 2024


Thai tigers bounce back from the edge of extinction after capture of high-profile poachers, 5th Aug., 2024


Previous



WILDLIFE NEWS


Villagers block highway over chinkara poaching in Suratgarh, 21st Aug., 2024

Wildlife warrior Godilla Vishwanatha Reddy: A sincere, humble conservationist, 21st July, 2024

Previous


PROJECTS


Tiger Poaching & Illegal Wildlife Trade Investigations




TIGER MORTALITY

TIGER DEATHS IN 2024
 Mortality                     94
 Poaching &             
 Seizures                      19
___________________
       Total                     113



TIGER DEATHS IN 2023
 Mortality                 149
 Poaching &               56
 Seizures                   
___________________
       Total                   205


TIGER POACHING 1994-2023


LEOPARD MORTALITY

LEOPARD DEATHS IN 2024
 Mortality                312
 Poaching &            105
 Seizures             
___________________
       Total                  417


LEOPARD DEATHS IN 2023
 Mortality                 410
 Poaching &             155
 Seizures             
___________________
       Total                   565
     

LEOPARD POACHING 1994-2023



TIGER RESERVES
Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve Map 

Bandhavgarh



Jobs

Assitant Accountant


 
Untitled Document
  About us | ProjectsNewsThe TigerDonations | How To Help Links| Publications | Crime MapsFAQsContact Us

Wildlife Protection Society of India. All material is protected by law.