40,000 tigers in 1900, why can’t we hold 3,000 now: Rithe

Nagpur: In some good new amid the Covid-19 pandemic, India’s tiger population has showed a steady increase from 2,226 in 2014 to 2,967 in 2018. This was possible as individual reserves have been shining as an outcome of village resettlement works and containing poaching threats.
Talking to media on eve of Global Tiger Day, Kishor Rithe, working for tiger conservation in Vidarbha landscape, said, “Some 30 years ago, we had a dream to regain our lost tiger population and focused on resolving key issues like huge anthropogenic pressure from villages situated in the core areas and rampant poaching.”
The Maharashtra government brought out a lucrative relocation package and expedited village resettlement work and also took several measures to arrest poaching threat due to which tiger population increased from 100 to 300 in last 30 years in the state.“This is really laudable and it happened due to political will and committed forest officers,” Rithe stated.
However, with growing tiger population a section of officials have coined the idea to shift 50 tigers from Vidarbha landscape and sterilize male tigers. “I want to remind them that India had 40,000 tigers in 1900. If the forests of this country could host 40,000 tigers in 1900, why can’t it host 3,500 tigers today?” he asked. It is a problem of management and not tigers, he adds.
Rithe said the real solutions lie in strengthening tiger corridors and regaining fragmented habitats lost due to due to infrastructure projects and agricultural encroachments. “Linear infrastructure projects like expressways, highways, railways, irrigation canals and transmission lines are coming up in the corridors causing problems for tiger survival.”
“Agriculture encroachments are fragmenting tiger corridors outside PAs and tiger reserves. The surface transport, railways, water resources ministries are reluctant to accept responsibility of avoiding tiger corridors and adopt appropriate mitigation measures on their own while deciding project alignments. Why do they need NGOs and courts to tell them to do it?” Rithe asked.
“We have not reached a tiger number to start thinking about sterilizing tigers or translocating them. We only need to strengthen corridors. On the Global Tiger Day, respective departments need to take a pledge for green infrastructures and readiness to protect tiger corridors,” said Rithe.
The ministry of road transport and highways issued order on May 29, 2019, to bypass PAs while deciding its alignments, even if it requires taking a longer route.
Former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis allocated enough money for wildlife mitigation structures on Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi expressway. Present chief minister Uddhav Thackeray asked to upgrade Akola-Khandwa meter gauge line from outside the core area of Melghat tiger reserve. “These are positive developments for tiger conservation and it will take work to the next level,” he applauded.