Indian tigers may have bounced back from the brink of extinction with a healthy rise in population, but they are certainly not out of the woods as international poaching syndicates have moblilised their networks in the country to hunt the endangered animal.

Reports in April indicated that the big cat headcount had gone up to nearly 2,500, sparking celebrations.

However, another set of data shows that poachers are responsible for about 37 per cent of tiger deaths in the country this year, with the number of killings revealing an upswing.

Tiger skins seized by the forest officials from Haridwar and Valmiki

Poaching fueled by a thriving trade of the animal body parts as well as loss of natural habitat and traditional prey had triggered a troubling slump in the tiger population from an estimated 40,000 at the turn of the last century.

India was able to pull back the numbers with the success of a government-run conservation plan.

As per statistics provided by the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), estimated tiger deaths from “poaching and seizure of body parts”, recorded from January 1 to August 3, 2016, stood at 31.

The figure for the entire year of 2015 was 26, and for 2014, it was 23.

“This is purely economics of the tiger trade,” a senior official of a wildlife law enforcement agency, who did not wish to be named, told Mail Today.

“India is merely a source country where a large number of poor, illiterate and nomadic tribes – such as Bawaria, Behlia and Pardhi – engage in the hunting of tigers. They are exploited by educated and highly tech-savvy gangs, sitting in destination countries in South-east Asia. They minutely follow all the news here. Obviously, new orders are being placed somewhere else.”

Madhya Pradesh leads the way with 20 “tiger mortalities” this year, of which six were poached, five were “found dead” and nine died of “infighting”.

Next comes Uttarakhand, where six tiger skins and 150 kg tiger bones were seized this year.

The third spot belongs to Karnataka where one tiger skull and bones and two claws were seized in 2016.

As per a 2014 census, India is home to 2,226 tigers, nearly 70 per cent of the global population.

Syndicates operating from China, Nepal & Myanmar are responsible for 31 big cat death in the country

They roam the country’s 48 tiger reserves, which include Ranthambore (Rajasthan), Sundarbans (West Bengal), Dudhwa (Uttar Pradesh), Kanha (MP), Tadoba Andhari (Maharashtra) and Bandipur (Karnataka).

The then Minister for Environment and Forests (MoEF), Prakash Javadekar, had announced the rise in numbers at the 3rd Asia ministerial conference on tiger conservation in April.

“That is good news for India… (a result) of what we are doing for the last 12 years,” Javadekar had said.

“We have zero tolerance towards poaching.” A dead tiger is worth a fortune in countries like China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.

Each body part – from eyes, whiskers, canines, claws, skin, bones and even penis – is used.

Their traditional use is in Chinese medicine, which claims to cure a range of diseases, from arthritis to impotency.

They are also served as a delicacy is restaurants and used for gifting and in various crafts.

“Some shocking incidents have come to the fore in the recent past,” said Tito Joseph, programme manager, WPSI.

“In March-April this year, five tiger skins and 125 kg of bones were recovered from near Jim Corbett National Park.

Two people were arrested. When the skins were sent to Wildlife Institute of India (WII), they analysed the patterns in their database and found them to match that of at least four missing tigers in the Corbett Park.

”Joseph also pointed out that two tiger skins and 35 kg of bones were seized in January from the Valmiki Tiger Reserve near the Bihar- Nepal border. Subsequent investigations brought to fore three incidents of tiger poaching,” he said.

“On further interrogation of the poachers, sizeable tiger meat was found buried in a pit nearby. The skin was traced to Kathmandu later.”

A side effect of growing tiger numbers is the fact that they are increasingly venturing out of protected sanctuaries, said Jose Louies of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).

“They roam around the park fringes. They go to villages, forests and corridors. They look for new habitats, mates etc. That makes it very easy for poachers to catch them unguarded,” he said.

“Technically, these hunters don’t need news reports to tell them that numbers have gone up. They know the jungles and the animal much better than us. They get to know about changes in their density and location much before us.” The outlaws are fast catching up with law enforcement.

BS Bonal, member-secretary, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), told Mail Today: “We are aware of the issues. NTCA is already coordinating with Nepal, Bangladesh and other SAARC countries (as part of the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network or SAWEN) to protect tigers. Our state forest departments are also working round the clock on the mission.”

‘Stop big cat breeding for commercial purposes’

By Mail Today Bureau

Following the seizure of cubs and tiger skins from a Tiger Temple in Thailand, more than 40 NGOs including those from India have asked the countries to end breeding of the big cats for commercial purposes and phase out tiger farms.

The organisations noted that wild tiger population has declined by over 95 per cent in the last 100 years while this year alone, there has been an upsurge in tiger poaching in India with more tigers killed in the first five months of 2016 than that in the whole of 2015.

“If wild tiger populations are to be recovered and secured, the international community must provide support to end tiger farming and other trades involving products acquired from wild and captive tigers,” a WWF India statement quoting the 45 organisations said.

The main market for tiger products are consumers in China and Vietnam, followed by smaller consumer markets in Myanmar and Laos

The organisations also extended their assistance to achieve the goals of zero demand for tiger parts and products and zero poaching of tigers.

They said that the global wild tiger population is estimated to be less than 4,000 and these last remaining wild tigers are each threatened by trade for nearly all of their body parts from skins and bones to teeth and claws traded by criminals for huge profit.

The main market for tiger products are consumers in China and Vietnam, followed by smaller consumer markets in Myanmar and Laos, they said.

The organisations commended the recent bold enforcement efforts of Thailand government which in June, this year seized 137 live tigers, thousands of tiger skin amulets, 70 preserved cubs and other tiger parts from the Tiger Temple.

“This represents a significant opportunity for Thailand to end all tiger farming within its borders and to play a leadership role in the phase-out of tiger farms in the region,” the statement said.