Tiger

Tiger-a species
Tiger Facts
Size and Features
Life Expectancy ,Birth, Mating
Project Tiger
World Tiger Population
Already Extinct
Causes For Tiger Demise
Big Cats In Peril
Can They Be Saved
Enactment of Project Tiger
Failure of Project Tiger
Further Action Plan
Achievement of Project Tiger
Tiger Tiger -Fading Fast!
Tiger Reserves In India

The tiger is one of the

most charismatic and

evocative species on Earthit is also one of the most
threatened. Only 6000 or
so remain in the wild, most
in isolated pockets spread
across increasingly
fragmented forests,
stretching from India to
south-eastern china and
from the Russian far east
to Sumatra , Indonesia.
Across its range, this
magnificent animal is
being prosecuted. Today
tigers are being poisoned,
shot, trapped and snared
to meet the demands of
illegal wildlife trade.

The scientific name for a tiger is

Panthera tigris. Panthera is the genus,
and the word means "Roaring Cats,"
which includes lions, tigers, leopards,
and jaguars. The species "Tigris" refers
to the tiger and is the Latin word for
tiger. The full "Linnaean" hierarchy for
the tiger is:
Kingdom = Animalia
Phylum = Chordata
Class = Mammalia (mammals)
Order = Carnivora (carnivores, or meat
eaters)
Family = Felidae (cats)
Genus = Panthera (roaring cats)

SIZE AND FEATURES

1)Typically 3 feet tall to the top of the
shoulder, 7-10 feet long from the head
to the rear end, with an additional 3
foot long tail,
2)weight ranges from 175-650 pounds.
3)only species of wild cat with stripes,
which are actually pigmentation marks
on the skin.

LIFE EXPECTANCY, BIRTH,

A typical tiger's life expectancy in the wild is 15MATING
20 years; somewhat longer in captivity. The
oldest tiger on record was 26 years.
Although there is no set mating season for
tigers, breeding often occurs in the spring. The
male may stay with the female for 20-80 days
during this period.
Gestation period is typically about 15. The cubs
nurse for about 2 months, learn to hunt after
about 11 months, and spend the first two years
of their lives with their mother, before going out
on their own.

Figure shows how the range of tigers has changed over

the past 100 years. Once ranging all throughout India,
southeast Asia, central Asia, and eastern China, only
small pockets of natural habitat remain.

Already extinct!
The Javan tiger once roamed the Indonesian

island of Java. The last one was seen in 1972

and is now believed to be extinct.
The Caspian tiger once ranged from Turkey to
Central Asia, including Iran, Mongolia, and
Central Russia. They went extinct in the
1950's.
The Bali tiger existed on the island of Bali.
The last one was killed in 1937. There are no
existing photos of a live Bali tiger

CAUSES FOR TIGER

DEMISE

1) Unlimited poaching
a) supplying underground black markets with its organs, pelts and bones,
which are used for fur, Chinese medicine. Dead tiger's parts are worth as
much as $200,000 on the black market. The trade continues today in
China, Taiwan, Korea, and Singapore, although tiger medicine is a hoax
and has been shown to have no curative powers.
b) hunted for recreation.
2) Human expansion
3) Deforestation (insecticides have reduced the danger of malarial mosquitoes
in India, making land habitable that was previously home to tigers)

BIG CATS IN
PERIL
JAN 2, 2008 : One tiger seized at Bandipur,Karnataka

Jan 6: A tiger poisoned to death at Wynad at Kerala.

Jan 7: One tiger found dead at Kanha,MP.
Jan 13: Three pieces of tiger bones seized at

Jaigaon,West Bengal.
Jan 21: One tiger skin seized at Munnar,Kerala.
Jan 28: Tigress found dead at Katerniaghat,Uttar Pradesh.
Jan 29: One tiger found dead at Gudalur, Tamil Nadu
Feb 8: A tiger killed in road accident South Kheri division,
UP
Feb11: One tiger found dead at Melghat,Maharashtra.

Can they be saved?

Yes!
1) Saving the forest patches.
2) Waging a war against poaching in tiger-breeding
zones. The strictest enforcement of anti-poaching
laws is a must-especially in the hot spots.
3) We need to make a national pledge-there will be
no further shrinkage. Instead of spending a few
crores thinly across the entire country, more can
be achieved by focusing money and effort on
identified hot spots like Corbett, Bandhavgarh,
Kanha and some parts of the northeast where
tigers truly have a chance to breed and grow.

ENACTMENT OF PROJECT TIGER

Project Tiger launched in 1973 was a giant leap by India in
the field oftiger conservationin general and forest
protection in particular. It was launched at the command of
then Prime MinisterSmt. Indira Gandhiwho was a lover
of animals. World wideFund organization had approached
her for protecting the declining tiger population in India to
which she responded positively. Infact, efforts for the
protection of tiger was going on since long time and IUCN in
itsmeetingin 1969 in Delhi had expressed concerns at the
decline in wild life.
Then another step in tiger protection was takenby
imposing ban on its hunting in 1970.Though late it was
very much needed. In 1972, first ever tiger census was
done in India when a startling figure of mere 1827 wild
tigers was discovered The reaction of the government and
the conservationist in the shape of Project tiger was
panicky. In the same year,WildlifeProtection Actcame
into existence.

If we compare the tiger population at the start of the

project and now that is 38 years laterthere is a decline in
the number of tigers from 1827(1972 first tiger census) to
around 1000 only.If after so much planning , actions and
efforts the tigers population has declined then it seems that
project tiger is not a success. The WWF, which was the force
behind the project tiger has predicted 2022 as the
doomsday.Though a huge money was pumped in the
system but it can be concluded thatproject tiger has failed
miserably. It is not justified to blame one or two reasons for
its failure but it is a systematic failure.

FURTHER ACTION PLAN

Since then the government has pledged US$153 million to

further fund the project, set-up a Tiger Protection Force to

combatpoachers, and fund the relocation of up to 200,000
villagers to minimize human-tiger conflicts.
The Ministry of Environment & Forests is now in the process

of developing a "Tiger habitat and population evaluation

System" for the Indian subcontinent in the GIS domain. The
objectives take care of the tiger sociology as well as the
prevailing ground situation.

ACHIEVEMENT OF PROJECT TIGER

In 2008, there were more than

40 Project Tiger reserves
covering an area over
37,761km2(14,580 sqmi).
Project Tiger helped to increase
the population of these tigers
from 1,200 in the 1970s to 3,500
in 1990s.

TIGER TIGER
Fading Fast!

Bitter truth!
Its official-India has just 1,411 tigers. the 2002 census figure of 3500
tigers was clearly an effort to cover up the government failure to
protect the glorious cat. This is the stark finding of the NATIONAL TIGER
CONSERVATION AUTHORITY estimation report.

Safe heavens
Corbett,Uttarakhand
Kaziranga,Assam
Pradesh
Nagarhole,Karnataka
Kanha,Bandhavgarh, Madhya Pradesh

Dark holes
Palamau,Jharkhand
Nagarjun Srisailam,Andhra
Indravati,Chattisgarh
Ranthambore, Rajasthan